Shared Memories
by james Thomas
Summary: After Tom's Diary is Destroyed, Ginny retains his knowledge and shares it with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Harry and Ginny decide to be strong in their fight against Voldemort and that Dumbledore's policy of giving everyone many chances to change isn't working. They decide it is necessary to kill not only Voldemort, but his Death Eaters before they kill many more innocent people.
1. Chapter 1 - Getting To Know You

Chapter I–Getting to Know You

Twelve-year-old Harry Potter was feeling guilty. He had just rescued eleven-year-old Ginny Weasley, his best mate Ron's sister, from the Chamber of Secrets. He wasn't feeling guilty for rescuing her; he was feeling guilty for what, in his own mind, he didn't do that cause her to need rescuing.

He had ignored Ginny all year. He knew Ginny had a crush on him; she blushed and stammered every time she got near him. She even sent him, in public in the hall, an embarrassing singing Valentine; but he made no effort to be friendly with her. He remembered how lonely he felt his first year at school, and he felt guilty for letting her feel that same loneliness during her first year.

Being only twelve, Harry had no romantic interest in Ginny or any other girl. The only girl he even talked to regularly was Hermione and only because they became friends when he and Ron rescued her from a troll last year. Now he had saved Ginny's life and he promised himself to become her friend too.

Harry knew Ron, and Ginny's three older brothers, also ignored her all year. Harry could somewhat understand Fred, George, and Percy; they were years older and didn't have much in common with Ginny.

But Ron, Ron was a different story; Harry even felt guilty for how Ron treated Ginny. Harry knew Ron and Ginny had been close when they were younger. Last year, Ron talked about her all the time, he told Harry stories about things he and Ginny did together at home while growing up.

This year, Ron acted like Ginny was a pain to have around and often told her to get lost. Harry knew Ron was ignoring Ginny because he wanted to keep Harry's friendship special and private; it made Ron feel important. Harry felt guilty because he never talked to Ron about how he treated Ginny; he never tried to convince Ron to include Ginny into their group.

Harry also knew Ginny never was very good making friends with other girls, probably because, as the only girl in a family with six older brothers, she grew up a tomboy. She climbed trees, snuck out to fly her brother's brooms, and pulled pranks on her brothers like they did to each other. Ginny rarely talked to, or hung around with, the other girls in her year.

All this made Ginny's first year at school a lot like Harry's first year had been; they had both been lonely and looking for friends. That was why, when she found Tom Riddle's curse diary among her things, and it responded to what she wrote in it about how she felt; it led her down a dark path.

Ginny didn't know Tom Riddle was the original name of the evil wizard that now called himself Lord Voldemort. She didn't know the part of Riddle he left in the cursed diary would eventually possess her and force her to do all sorts of evil things.

Ginny was now lying in the hospital recovering, and Harry figured that it was partly his fault. If he had just been friendly and talked to her, she wouldn't have turned to the diary looking for a friend. He decided he would start to be her friend right now; he would go visit her in the hospital.

When he entered the hospital, he saw Ginny's parents near her bed along with the school's headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. The hospital matron Madam Pomfrey met Harry at the door. She asked, "Mr. Potter, why are you back here? I examined you just an hour ago and healed all your injuries; is there something else bothering you?"

Harry answered, "No Madam, I'm fine; I just came to visit Ginny and see if she is feeling better."

Before Madam could answer, the headmaster came over and asked the same question. Harry said, "No Professor, I just told Madam Pomfrey I'm fine; I just want to visit Ginny."

Dumbledore looked upset by what Harry said and told him, "Miss Weasley is understandably quite disturbed by what happened to her and Madam gave her a dreamless sleeping potion; she won't be awake until tomorrow morning."

Harry said, "Then I'll return tomorrow."

Dumbledore said, "That may not be a good idea; seeing you may upset her again by reminding her of what happened. Perhaps you should stay away from her until she has time to recover emotionally."

Harry nodded, but he knew Dumbledore was wrong. As he and Ginny came up out of the chamber, he told her if she wanted to talk to someone, he would be there for her; she thanked him and she said she did want to talk later.

Harry wondered why Dumbledore didn't want him to talk with Ginny; but he didn't want to argue with the headmaster. Instead, he decided to secretly come back tomorrow morning and see Ginny no matter what Dumbledore said.

The next morning, he was up at six, dressed, and brought his invisibility cloak. He knew Dumbledore wouldn't be there, but he also knew how Madam Pomfrey felt about visitors other than during regular visiting hours. He covered himself with the invisibility cloak, snuck past her office and sat in the chair next to Ginny's bed waiting for her to wake.

It was close to seven when he heard her stir. He removed his cloak and said, "Ginny, are you awake? How do you feel?"

She opened her eyes and asked, "Harry, why are you here? Were you here all night?"

He said, "No, not all night; Dumbledore chased me out last night, I just got back here about an hour ago."

She asked, "Why are you here?"

He looked at her with surprise on his face and responded, "I'm here because yesterday, you said you wanted to talk with me later and I said I would be happy to listen. I understand if you're not ready to talk right now, I'll leave but I'm ready to listen whenever you're ready to talk."

She said, "Don't leave Harry; I'm not sure I'm ready to talk, but please stay and keep me company."

Ginny didn't want to be alone because, last night before she fell asleep, she realized that in some form, Tom was still inside her head; she could feel his memories. She wanted to tell Harry; but she couldn't, at least not right now.

They sat and talked about little things, classes, teachers, Quidditch; but they avoided everything to do with the diary and the chamber.

At eight, Madam Pomfrey brought Ginny's breakfast. When she saw Harry she said, "Mr. Potter, it is not visiting hours; how did you get in here?"

He said, "I just walked in; I guess you didn't see me."

She said, "Well you have to leave; I must examine Miss Weasley. After she eats breakfast, if she has recovered, she may leave. You can see her later."

Ginny said, "Please don't make Harry leave; he can wait outside while you examine me, but I would like to talk with him while I eat."

Madam looked sour, but said, "Very well, Mr. Potter go out in the hall, I'll call you when I finish my exam."

Ginny passed Madam's exam, and Madam sent a house elf to get Ginny clean clothes. They talked as Ginny ate, and Harry picked at some food from her tray; then Ginny got dressed in the loo. They were just leaving when Dumbledore showed up.

Dumbledore said, "Mr. Potter, I asked you to leave Miss Weasley recover at her own speed."

Ginny interrupted, "Headmaster, I asked Harry to come see me yesterday before my parents brought me here to the hospital wing. All we're doing is talking."

Dumbledore frowned but said, "Very well."

After leaving the hospital, they walked back to Gryffindor common room where her brothers surrounded Ginny with questions. She and Harry didn't get to talk again until the train ride home.

On the train, Harry promised to write her over the summer and she promised to write back; but Harry's uncle locked Harry's owl in her cage so Harry wasn't able to write. One letter from Ginny got to Harry; she said her parents were taking the family to Egypt to visit her older brother Bill who was working there and she couldn't write again until they returned to England.

Later that summer, after an incident with Aunt Marge, Harry ran away from his aunt and uncle. He spent the last few weeks of the summer at the Leaky Cauldron. On September 1st, Harry caught the train to return to school.

On the train returning to Hogwarts for his third year, Harry tried to talk to Ginny; but first they couldn't get a private moment, and later, they were attacked by a Dementor. The Dementors normally guarded the Wizard prison called Azkaban; however, for the first time in history, a prisoner had escaped. The Dementors had now spread all about the country and had boarded the train searching for Sirius Black.

Ginny and Ron's father had told Harry that Black was second in command to Voldemort; and had killed thirteen people with one curse before being captured. Mr. Weasley warned Harry that Black had escaped to find and kill Harry because he believed Harry was responsible for the disappearance of Voldemort years ago.

When the Dementor came aboard to search for Black, it entered the compartment where Harry and his friends were sitting. Dementors control their prisoners by sucking all the happy thoughts from a person's mind; leaving the prisoners in such a state of despair they are unable to even think of escape.

As soon as it entered the compartment, it began to drain the happy thoughts from Harry's mind and the minds of his friends also. Because of all the things that happened in Harry's life since Voldemort had first tried to kill him, Harry had the fewest happy memories and the greatest number of miserable memories. As a result, the Dementor affected him more than the others. After a few seconds, he passed out from the torment.

When his friends and the new DADA Professor revived him, he learned that all his friends had that same feeling of despair. Because everyone was watching Harry, nobody noticed Ginny reacted as badly as Harry had; she also passed out.

This was understandable to Harry because he knew she had a lot of bad memories from what Tom's diary forced her to do, and from what happened in the Chamber of Secrets. Once Harry had revived, he could see Ginny was still not fully back to her old self, so he sat next to her and held her hand to comfort her.

After arriving at school and attending the opening feast, Harry wasn't feeling well at all. He told Ron and Hermione he was going up to bed early. Ginny had already left for her dorm room looking pale and shaken.

Harry tossed and turned for some time, before he finally fell asleep. Suddenly he was back in the compartment aboard the train. The door slid open and the Dementor came in moving toward him; then it touched him.

He tried to push it away and said, "No, get away, leave me alone."

The Dementor whispered, "Harry, wake up. Stop talking and wake up."

Harry opened his eyes and in the dim light coming through the bedroom window, and without his glasses on, he barely made out the shape of a small figure that had its hand on his shoulder. The figure spoke again, "Harry, it's me; wake up. I need to talk with you."

"Ginny?" he asked. "What are you doing in my dorm room at this time of night?"

She said, "I need to talk to you; but not here, we'll wake the others. Let's go down to the common room."

Harry looked at his watch and said, "Ginny, it's one in the morning; can't this wait until a reasonable hour?"

She said, "You were thrashing about when I got here and mumbling for something to get away from you. It was a Dementor you were dreaming about, wasn't it? Don't deny it.

I had a nightmare to; when I screamed I woke my roommates. I couldn't talk to them; they weren't there in the compartment with us, they weren't in the Chamber of Secrets with us, they wouldn't understand. But I knew you would; please Harry come talk to me. I need someone who will understand."

Harry got up, put on his slippers and robe, and followed Ginny down the steps to the common room. He sat on the sofa nearest the dying fire where there was some warmth and light; Ginny sat next to him.

She looked at him and started with, "You have nightmares a lot, don't you? I heard mom and dad talking about it when you stayed at the Burrow the summer before my first year. Mom said she heard you through Ron's bedroom door, yelling in your sleep about what happened when you fought Tom over the Philosopher's Stone.

Since last June, after you saved me from him in the Chamber of Secrets, I've had nightmares almost every night. I was starting to get a little better in the last few weeks since my family took that trip to Egypt; but tonight the nightmare was back. It was like the first night after you saved me.

Harry, how do you stand it; I can't go through it all over again. Help me; tell me what to do to make the memories go away."

Harry looked at her for a long time. Ron and his other roommates of course knew Harry had nightmares because some nights he woke them by yelling in his sleep; but he never talked to anyone about his nightmares, not even Ron. He felt he couldn't let Ginny suffer thinking he had an answer and wouldn't tell her; he had to tell her the truth.

He said, "Ginny, I don't know what to tell you. You just told me you know I still have nightmares; if I knew how to stop them don't you think I would. I've had nightmares for twelve years now, almost every night, and it never got better.

If your nightmares were getting better before the Dementor attack today, maybe they will again in a few days. I hope they do, I would envy you; but there's no secret I can tell you that will help make them go away."

Ginny's eyes began to fill with tears and she began to make quiet whimpering noises. All Harry could think of was to put his arm around her shoulders and say, "Don't cry Ginny; I'm sure things will get better; at least for you."

She leaned against him resting her head on his shoulder, and said, "I don't know if I can wait for them to go away. If I can't sleep, how will I go to classes and do my homework. And my roommates, I can't wake them up every night screaming; it wouldn't be fair to them. I don't know what to do."

"Did you tell your parents that you still have nightmares?" Harry asked.

"No," she said "and you can't tell them or my brothers; not even Ron. I never told them all the horrible disgusting things that Riddle made me do. If mom ever found out she go around the twist; she wouldn't let me out of her sight again. You know how she is about me doing anything.

And dad would make me go to St. Mungos to see a mind healer if he knew I was still having nightmares three months later."

This was what Ginny feared the most, what she was afraid to tell anyone, even Harry; she was afraid of having a mind healer learn that Tom's memories were still in her head.

When she first got back home in June, still feeling Tom's memories in the back of her mind, she feared that Tom would posses her again and make her harm her family. To try and prevent this, over the summer, she gradually explored her own mind.

She learned that although Tom's memories were inside her mind, that's all they were now, memories. His mind, his soul, was no longer there; he couldn't control her again. What she did discover was that she could use Tom's memories to do things; advanced powerful things she couldn't do before.

She continued talking to Harry, "Percy will follow me around the school and write mom every time I sneezed. Remember he made me drink Madam Pomfrey's Pepper-up potion last year when he thought I was sick.

The twins would drive me crazy by constantly trying to cheer me up with their pranks and jokes; but Ron would be the worst. He knows a lot more than Percy, Fred, and George do about what happened to me. The first two weeks after we got home he asked me how I was doing ten times a day.

I had to lie to him that I was perfectly fine over and over before he left me alone. If you tell him I'm still having nightmares, he'll start all over and that will only make things worse.

You're the only one I could think of that would understand what I'm going through."

"I told you I can't think of anything that will help." Harry said. "I'm sorry but I don't know what else I can say or do."

"Then just stay here with me a little while." Ginny said. "I can't go back to my room. If I have another nightmare tonight and wake my roommate again I'd die of embarrassment."

"Sure," Harry said "I'll stay with you a while."

Ginny closed her eyes with her head still on Harry's shoulder and after ten minutes, she drifted off to sleep. When Harry thought she was out, he got up, laid her head on one of the pillows, and started back to bed.

He had only gone up three steps toward the boys' dorm when Ginny started squirming about and yelling, "No, I won't do it Tom; you can't make me do those things again."

Harry ran back to her and put his hand on her shoulder. He shook her gently and said, "Ginny, it's okay, you're safe."

She didn't open her eyes; but started talking again in her sleep. "Harry, what happened to Riddle and his snake?" she asked. "What happened to the diary; how did you get here?"

He knew she was dreaming that they were back in the Chamber of Secrets; because those were the exact words she said when she first awoke after he destroyed the diary.

He answered her as he did then, "It's alright Ginny, the snake is dead, Tom is gone, the diary is destroyed, it's over, everything is alright."

She calmed down and said, "I'm cold; it's so cold in here."

Harry noticed she hadn't put slippers on before coming to his room; and her dressing gown was short, only reaching an inch below her knees. He knew the Weasley's didn't have much money and couldn't afford to buy new clothes all the time. Ron's things were often too small on him.

She had her knees pulled upward as if trying to curl up for warmth, so he took off his robe, covered her with it, and headed back to his room. This time he didn't even make it to the first step before she started yelling again.

Again, he placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "Ginny, you're safe, I'm here. I won't let him hurt you."

He sighed; there was only one thing to do. He pulled his robe off her, got another pillow, and laid next to her. The sofa was wide enough for both of them if he squeezed up against her; as he pulled his robe back over the both of them she put her arm around his waist. He responded by putting his arm over her shoulder.

Something was poking him. Then he heard, "Potter, Potter wake up. What's the meaning of this; what do you think you're doing with my sister?"

Harry opened his eyes to see his face was only an inch from Ginny's face; their bodies were pressed together, arms still over each other. Percy was standing over them and said, "Get away from my sister; she's only twelve years old. How could you embarrass her in public like this?"

Harry looked around. More than a dozen people were standing around the sofa; Shamus and Dean were smiling and both gave Harry thumbs up. Several girls were whispering to each other; giggling between whispers. Ginny seemed to be still sleeping.

Harry stood up and as he did, his robe that was covering them came off with him. Ginny's dressing gown and nightie had apparently pulled up as they slept and her knickers were showing. Some girls gasped, and Harry quickly threw his robe back over her.

Ron and the twins were coming down the stairs as Percy said, "Well, explain yourself, Potter; what do you think you're doing with my sister?"

Before Harry could think of what to say, Ron asked, "What's going on?"

Fred said, "Yeah, what's all the yelling about Percy. Being Head Boy giving you a big head."

Percy turned to Ron and said, "Your friend Harry seems to think because he saved her from Slytherin's monster last June that now he can sleep with our sister. I came down for an early breakfast and found them together on the sofa with a dozen people watching them."

Percy turned and yelled at the crowd, "All of you get moving, my sister isn't a show for all of you to be gawking at."

As Percy yelled, Ginny opened her eyes. Looking at everyone standing around her face turned as red as her hair, and she looked at Harry.

This time it was Ron that said, "Harry, I thought you were my friend; how could you sleep with my sister?"

Harry said, "You make it sound like we did something awful; it's not like that. We were only together because …"

Harry stopped as he noticed Ginny shake her head quickly and he remembered she didn't want her brothers to learn she was still having nightmares.

"Go on;" Ron said "you were about to tell us why you think it's okay to sleep with our sister."

Harry thought quickly; but didn't know how to explain without giving away Ginny's secret. Finally, he said, "We weren't 'sleeping together' like you're implying; we just happened to be… er, ah, sleeping together."

George said, "Are you expecting us to believe that you accidently ended up sleeping with Ginny? Perhaps you were both sleepwalking and bumped into each other then fell over on the sofa."

Harry's brain finally got moving and he answered, "Sort of; I couldn't sleep after what happened on the train and because of what your father told me about …"

Again, he stopped; the crowd had left after Percy yelled at them and only Hermione had come from the dorms since then. She was standing with her mouth open as she listened to what the boys were accusing Harry and Ginny of doing. Ron and Hermione knew what Mr. Weasley had told Harry about Sirius Black; but Fred, George, and Percy didn't. He knew he wasn't supposed to let everyone know Black was after him.

"Well," Percy said again, "you seem to be having trouble finding an explanation of why you were cuddled up against our sister with her clothes pulled up above her waist."

Upset by what Percy was accusing her of doing, Ginny finally spoke, "It's none of your business why Harry and I were together; or how we were dressed, or what we were doing. I would hope my own brothers would have a little trust in me."

She got up and with tears flowing, she ran to the stairs leading to the girls' dorm. Hermione looked at the boys and said, "You're awful, all of you, treating your sister like that; didn't you learn anything from last year?" Then she followed Ginny up the stairs.

Ron turned to Harry and said, "We're still waiting to hear your story; and we want the truth."

Harry looked shocked. "You want the truth? Ron have I ever lied to you about anything; or you Percy, or Fred, or George. Ginny and I didn't do anything wrong.

As I said, I came down here because I couldn't sleep. Ginny couldn't sleep either after that Dementor on the train, so she also came down here. We started to talk about what happened and we fell asleep sitting up, leaning against each other.

I woke up because Ginny was talking in her sleep that she was cold. It was late, I was tired, and so was she. I didn't want to wake her so I laid her down, got next to her, and covered us using my robe. The next thing I knew, Percy was poking and yelling at me.

Nothing happened between us except we both got some sleep. Now, I have to get dressed, get a quick breakfast, and get my class schedule for this year."

None of the Weasleys said any more so Harry went up to his room to get dressed.

When Harry got back to the common room on his way to breakfast, he found  
Hermione waiting for him.

Still upset by being accused of doing something wrong when he was just trying to do his best to help Ginny, he snapped at Hermione, "Not you to; I suppose you also think Ginny and I did something wrong?"

"No," she said, "I don't. If you had been caught sleeping with Lavender or Romilda in just their nightie, I could suspect one of them of trying to seduce 'The Boy Who Lived'; but I know you and Ginny too well to suspect the two of you of doing what the boys implied.

Still, I would like to know the truth. Ginny wouldn't tell me anything but that you and her didn't do anything wrong. Maybe I could help if you told me what happened?"

Harry thought for a moment then said, "I'll have to talk to Ginny first; maybe you can help. I know she asked me not to tell her brothers; but maybe she won't mind if we tell you. Give me a chance to talk with her and I'll get back to you."

Talking with Ginny was a problem however. Being she was a year younger than he was; they didn't see each other in classes. He tried once to stop her as they passed in the hall; but Ron was with him, and he wouldn't leave them to talk in private. Ginny's classmates also stayed close trying to hear if she and Harry were saying something about which the girls could gossip.

After dinner, Harry went over to her in the common room; but Percy, Ron, Fred, and George all migrated closer so they could listen. When Ginny saw that, she said loudly, "Harry, do you feel like talking a walk with me; someplace where we can be alone.

They stood up and she glared at her brothers adding, "And if anyone follows us I'll hex them into next week."

As soon as they got out in the hall, Ginny asked, "Harry, you didn't tell anyone why we were together, did you; you didn't tell about my nightmares."

"Of course not;" he said, "I promised not to and I keep my promises. But Hermione is asking questions about what happened. Maybe if you talked to her it would help; she gives really good advice, at least she does to me."

"No," Ginny said, "I'm not ready to talk to anyone else. I do like Hermione, and she may be smart; but she wasn't in the Chamber of Secrets with us, and the Dementor didn't affect her like it did us. Maybe someday I tell her, but not now.

So what happened with my brothers after I left?"

"Not much," Harry said, "I told them neither of us could sleep and made it sound like we just both happened to meet in the common room. I didn't say anything about you coming to my room, or about nightmares."

Her face got red and she asked, "What about them accusing us of doing, you know, something sexual?"

He said, "I told them we didn't do anything but accidently fall asleep together. I think the twins believed me; but I know Percy didn't and I don't think Ron was very happy. And I'm sure us coming out here alone to talk isn't helping any of them to believe it.

I imagine Percy is writing to your parents right now; making it sound like we did something terrible. I bet you get a letter from them tomorrow, or the day after."

"I'm sorry what I did is embarrassing to you Harry." she said. "I know you heard the girls whispering and giggling; they all think we did something. By tomorrow the gossip will have spread to the other houses and I know Malfoy and the Slytherins will make crude comments about us."

"Don't worry about it Ginny." he said. "It won't be as bad as last year when most of the school thought I was the heir of Slytherin and setting the Basilisk loose."

Ginny stopped walking and burst into tears. "Oh Harry, that was my fault to because I was the one to open the chamber. Forgive me Harry, every time you come near me I make trouble for you.

Forget I ever asked you about my nightmares. I'll stay away from you from now on; I shouldn't have gotten you involved with my problems."

Harry hugged her and said, "Ginny, stop crying, don't blame yourself. It's Tom Riddle who is responsible; him and Mr. Malfoy for slipping the diary into your book pile. That's over and I never blamed you.

And people saying I'm involved with a pretty girl won't embarrass me; I mean, as long as it doesn't embarrass you. We know the truth; we didn't do anything to be embarrassed about. I just wish we could convince your brothers of that; your family are the only people whose opinion about us I care about.

As to your nightmares, after talking about them when we were on the sofa last night you seemed to sleep soundly without a nightmare. I did to; talking with you seems to have helped both of us. Maybe if we keep talking about the things that are bothering us it will help more. I say we get together a couple of times a week, maybe take a walk like this, or if people will let us, just sit somewhere and talk."

"If you want to," she said, "I think it might help; but I think the reason we slept so well last night was that we were cuddled together and felt warm and safe. At least that's how I felt.

When I was small and had a nightmare, or was just scared by a storm or something, I would go and cuddle with someone until I fell to sleep. Mostly I went to my parents' bed, but sometimes I would crawl in with one of my brothers, usually Bill.

He always could comfort me, and I think since you saved me last year, I got that feeling of being safe when I was with you last night. I guess you think I'm being silly; I'm acting like a little girl again."

Harry wasn't quite sure how to respond to that; nobody had ever cuddled with him when he was scared, nobody ever made him feel safe. Talking to a girl was one thing, cuddling with a girl was something he wasn't sure of.

Finally, he decided to just ignore the cuddling part, he said, "It's settled then; how about if we talk every Saturday night since we don't have to worry about classes the next day, and another night during the week when neither of us has a lot of work to do."

"Fine," she said "but would it be alright, if I'm having a particularly bad night, that I can come talk with you even if we're not scheduled for that night?"

"Sure," he said, "as long as I can come to you if I need to talk."

They had been gone about forty-five minutes; and as they reentered the common room, they found Percy, Ron, Fred, and George waiting. "We've talked this over;" Percy said, "and we want to talk to the two of you, right now before you two become the gossip topic of the whole school."

Ginny was furious and started, "I told you what Harry and I do …"

But Harry took her hand and interrupted with, "Ginny, let's hear them out first; and then if necessary, we can straighten them out about the two of us."

She answered, "Okay Harry, I'll listen to them; but then for sure we'll set things straight."

The boys went over to a corner table and sat on one side while Harry and Ginny sat on the other. George turned toward the room and said to the nearby students, "You nosey soggs get lost; this is Weasley family business and none of yours."

The nearest people got up and move to new seats; then Percy said, "People all over the school have been talking about what you two did this morning. Harry, we all like you, and not just because you're famous. But, we've decided we don't want our sister's reputation ruined because she fancies you. So we're telling you to stay away from her; we don't want to see you two alone especially the way you were this morning.

I'll be writing our parents and suggest they send you a letter ordering you to do what I just said. Ginny, they will be writing you to."

Ginny stood up; but before she could say a word, Harry also stood. He was outraged at Percy telling him he couldn't be friends with Ginny; who did they think they were, giving him orders. Didn't Percy and the other boys see he was only trying to help her? Didn't they realize that Ginny not having friends to talk with last year was what lead to all the problems?

Harry thought he would show them they couldn't order him around; but how could he do that. Then he knew how, he would do the opposite of what they wanted; he said, "This is what I think about you giving me orders to stay away from Ginny." He put his arms around her and pulled her into a passionate kiss.

Fred and George yelled together, "Oi, get your hands off her."

When Fred and George yelled, everyone in the common room looked over in time to see Harry and Ginny kissing. Ron came around the table and grabbed Ginny by the arm trying to pull her away from Harry's grip. Percy was trying to say something; but Harry's audacity of kissing Ginny right after he told Harry to stay away from her had rendered Percy unable to do more than stutter.

Ginny finally broke off the kiss and yelled, "Ron, get your hands off of me; come on Harry, we'll go back out in the hall and snog all we want."

Percy found his voice and said, "No you won't go out; it's past curfew for 2nd and 3rd years. If you try and leave I'll notify Professor McGonagall and have you both given detention."

Ginny said, "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." Percy snapped back.

Harry said, "Never mind Ginny; if we can't go out, you can come up to my room. We can snog up there in private."

"I forbid you to go to a boy's room." Percy said.

"Me to," Ron said, "no way am I letting you take my sister up to your bed."

Ginny screamed, "You'll have to put a Full Body-binding Curse on me to stop me, and if you try, I'll go straight to McGonagall and tell her you attacked us. Percy, how long do you think you be Head Boy after that? And you three, she can't take a badge from you; but she can give you detentions and take away other privileges, like taking you off the Quidditch team, or banning you from going to Hogsmeade.

Now Harry, let's go to your bedroom and snog."

Everyone in the common room was staring at them; small groups began whispering when Ginny said she wanted to go to Harry's bedroom to snog.

Nobody tried to stop them; but the Weasleys got together for a moment, then Ron followed them. "I'm going to 'my room'; I'm entitled to do that." he said loudly. "If it also happens to be Harry's room; that's not my fault."

Harry and Ginny sat on Harry's bed and Ron sat on his, which was across from Harry's, only ten feet away. Ron stared at Harry and Ginny until Ginny said, "Let get in and close the bed curtains; then we can have some privacy."

Once the curtains were closed, Ginny whispered, "Harry, why did you kiss me? You didn't do it because fancy me, did you?"

"I do like you Ginny." Harry whispered back. "You're pretty, and fun to talk to, and have a nice personality. But we're too young to really fancy each other and snog like the older students do. I would like to be friends; and maybe when we're fifteen or sixteen we will fancy each other that way.

The truth is I kissed you because Percy told me to stay away from you and I wanted him to see that we don't take orders from him. It was the first time I ever kissed a girl; and I did enjoy kissing you even if I did it for the wrong reason.

I'm sorry, I hope what I just said doesn't make you angry; I do want to continue getting together to talk and I hope you still want to; who knows what will come of it.

I also want you to remember what being friends with me can mean; that's why Tom took you into the chamber, he used you because he knew I would come to help you. That could happen again if we stay friends."

Ginny said, "You didn't have to apologize Harry; I'm not angry. I didn't think you suddenly fancied me that much and figured you did it because of what the boys said.

That was the first time a boy ever kissed me; and I enjoyed it to, in case you didn't notice, I kissed you back.

And yes, I do still want to meet and talk; I think being friends for now will be enough. If we ever do fancy each other when we're older that will be nice; but if we don't, I think I can live with that as long as we stay friends."

Harry said, "So now what? Ron's out there watching and trying to listen; how do we handle that?"

She said, "Let's stay here a while to make him think we're doing something. That will drive him crazy. Then when we get out of the bed, we kiss good-by in front of him. I bet he runs to tell the others what we did; or at least what he thinks we did."

"Agreed," Harry said, "your brothers deserve to get the mickey taken out of them. So what do we do while we're waiting?"

Ginny said, "I'll tell you about my nightmares and you tell me about yours. That's what we plan on doing anyway; talk to each other. So why not start now?

But every few minutes we shake the bed and the curtains so he'll think we're doing more than talking."

Harry looked at his watch and said, "Okay, but it's getting late. We can talk for about half an hour before you have to leave so we can get some sleep tonight. You start."

In whispers so Ron couldn't hear, Ginny told him what happens in her nightmares most often; then he told her his most common nightmare. Every few minutes they not only shook the bed and curtains; but called out things like, "Oh Harry I love when you do that." or "Yes Ginny, that feels so good." loud enough for Ron to hear.

At the end of a half hour he said, "Ready, we have to make this kiss seem like we've been snogging the whole time we were in here so Ron will get all worked up."

Ginny said, "Wait, take off your trainers and shirt before you open the curtains."

As he did that, she pulled her tee out of the waistband of her pants and messed up her hair. Then she said, "Okay, let's go."

When the curtain opened, Ron was sitting in the same spot on his bed as when they closed the curtain; his face was bright red, his fists clenched.

Ginny said, "Harry, do you really want me to go? Can't we sleep together like last night? That was so nice."

Harry, not expecting her to say something like that, had to think quickly and finally said, "No, we have classes tomorrow and we can't stay up all night snogging. But, before you go…" He put his arm around her and kissed her like he had in the common room earlier.

Ron stood up and took one step toward them before stopping. He stood there as they kissed, then ran out and down the steps.

Ginny broke off the kiss, she was all red in the face and had to take a deep breath before she said, "That was wonderful again, but, I better go. I think we got Ron worried enough. I'll see you tomorrow Harry."


	2. Chapter 2 - The Sinister Plot

Chapter II–The Sinister Plot

After Ginny left, Harry sat on the edge of his bed thinking. That second kiss made shivers run down his spine. Why did it feel so much better than their first kiss? Then he realized he wasn't angry this time. The first time he was thinking about getting back at Percy; this time, he was relaxed and thinking about giving Ginny the best kiss he could to put on a good show for Ron.

But there was something else; Ginny felt different to. In the common room, she had kissed him but her body was stiff, her muscles tensed up, she had been angry too. This time her body felt soft when he put his arm around her; as they kissed she seemed to melt right against him.

He wanted to kiss her again to find out if the feeling would change again. He regretted that he had told her they were too young to fancy each other like the older students; if kissing her made him feel like that, maybe they were old enough.

As Ginny went from the boys' stairs through the common room to the girls' stairs she saw her brothers in the far corner talking. They looked at her and she gave an 'I showed you' teasing smile at them before going up to her room.

She found Hermione sitting there waiting. "What?" Ginny asked.

"You know what!" Hermione said. "Tell me what you and Harry are up to before your brothers do something to him that you'll feel sorry for causing. You should know you can only tease them so much before they strike back; and they won't take it out on you, it will be Harry they go after.

I know you fancied Harry all last year, maybe more now because he saved you life. He may even fancy you now; I've know other boys and girls that started to couple up at your age. But I also know you two didn't do anything you shouldn't have. You're both to principled to start having sex at your age like the boys accused you of in the common room. So what's really up?"

Ginny said, "Alright, we didn't do anything but talk about what happened to both of us. I've been having nightmares since what happened last year; I thought talking to Harry could help because he has nightmares all the time."

"I know." Hermione said. "He's mentioned it but won't give me or Ron any details. He thinks talking to us will make us think he's weak. Boys, they all try to put up a brave front."

Ginny said, "I know, especially Harry. From what he's told me so far, his nightmares are horrid; both the ones about his life with his relatives and those about 'You Know Who'."

Hermione said, "You mean he's talked to you; he actually told you some of his nightmares."

Ginny said, "Well yeah, that's what I just told you we were doing last night when we fell asleep on the sofa in the common room, and again in his bed just now. But my stupid brothers don't trust me; and that made me so mad I had to show them they can't boss me around.

It turned out Harry felt the same about them giving him orders; that's why we kissed the first time in the common room. That's why we went out for the walk, and that's why we went up to his bed; to get back at them."

"But?" Hermione asked. "There's something you not telling me; I can see in your eyes you're hiding something, something important."

Ginny got red in the face and said, "Promise you won't tell Harry."

Hermione's eyebrows raised and she said, "Okay, out with it. What happened?"

Ginny said, "Ron followed us and sat on his bed trying to see and hear what we were doing. All we did was talk more, but Harry and I closed his bed curtains and pretended we had been snogging for half an hour; and when we got out from his bed, just to anger Ron, I asked Harry if we could sleep together tonight and we kissed again."

Ginny stopped and Hermione waited for a minute before saying, "Go on, finish. You kissed again and…"

Ginny said, "Hermione, my toes curled up. I got so hot I started to sweat and I couldn't catch my breath. I had to break off before I fainted.

I think I really fancy Harry, the real Harry; not like the crush I had last year on 'The Boy Who Lived'. I want to kiss him again; but when we talked, we agreed that we're too young to be snogging. I'm sorry I ever agreed to just talk. I don't know if I'll be able to be close to him and talk without snogging him again."

Hermione said, "You'll have to deal with that later; right now you better tell your brothers the truth before they go after Harry."

The girls went back to the common room; but the boys weren't there.

"Let's go to Harry and Ron's room." Hermione said. "I hope they haven't already gone after Harry."

While still on the steps, before they got to the room, they heard yelling. "I don't care if we've been best mates for two years," Ron shouted "you stay away from my sister."

Either Fred or George, Hermione couldn't tell which because he was screaming, said, "You're not my best mate; so I wouldn't care in the least about hexing you every time I see you. In fact, after Ron told us about what you did with Ginny in your bed just before; I think I hex you now."

The girls ran the rest of the way up the stairs and just got to the door in time to see Percy grab Fred's wand hand and say, "Not that I don't think he deserves it; but I'm head boy and I don't want to have to turn my own brother in for doing it.

Wait until I leave the room so I can tell McGonagall that I didn't see you doing it."

As Percy turned to leave, Ginny shouted, "Don't you dare! We're going to straighten things out right now."

Ginny went in and got between Harry and her brothers. Hermione squeezed in the room against the wall with her wand drawn. She intended to do what she could to protect Harry.

Ginny said, "Harry and I never did anything you four should get mad about. All we did was talk with each other."

"Don't give me that," Ron said, "we all saw you kiss in the common room and I saw what you did in his bed."

Ginny yelled, "You didn't see what we did in the bed; you saw the curtains move and your imagination made up what you think we did."

Pointing to a spot near Harry's bed, Ron said, "I didn't imagine that you kissed again right there."

Percy added, "And I caught you sleeping together on the sofa with your clothes pulled up above your waist."

Ginny turned red and said, "You all know most of my clothes are too small on me; when I move around in my sleep sometimes my short nighties pull up. I didn't do it on purpose; I didn't even know it was pulled up until you yelled and woke me.

We tried to explain; but you wouldn't listen. We fell asleep while talking, that's all there would have been to it until you four started accusing us of doing something wrong. Harry and I got angry and decided to show you that you don't own us; none of you can tell us what to do or not do."

"That's the truth." Harry said. "And when we went for a walk all we did was talk more.

The first time we kiss was when you made me so mad by telling me I couldn't be alone with Ginny so we could talk in private. I knew I could get all of you mad, I could get back at you guys by kissing her.

It was wrong of me to do it because Ginny never showed any sign she wanted to be kissed. I apologized to her later for doing it."

"He did." Ginny said. "And we only came up here to his bed for the same reason; to make you four mad. Because Ron followed us, we decided to pretend to do something to get him worked up. We talked more and every few minutes we shook the curtains and said something to aggravate Ron."

"It worked to," Harry said, "Ron was nearly apoplectic by the time we opened the curtains."

"Yeah," Ron said still angry, "and then you kissed again. Tell me you apologized for that second kiss."

"No he didn't;because that second kiss was my idea." Ginny said. "I knew it would be the last straw for you Ron; it would make you think we had been snogging the whole time in the bed. It was also my idea for Harry to take his shirt off and for me to mess up my hair to make you think we did even more than snog."

"Really," Harry said, "other than the two kisses that we just explained; all we did is talk about what happened in the Chamber of Secrets and on the train with the Dementor. You all know the Dementor affected me and Ginny more than the rest of you; we thought talking to each other would help."

"And it did;" Ginny added "I felt a lot better this morning; until you prats came along and got me all worked up again.

Harry and I plan to get together at least twice a week, only to talk; and I don't want any of you to hex or do anything to Harry for being with me. I swear, I tell McGonagall and write mom if you do."

"Oh dear," Percy said "When you came up here earlier, I wrote home and told mother and father I caught you two sleeping together this morning. I told them you wouldn't listen to me and you just went to be with Harry in his bed. I even included the part about Ginny's nightie being pulled up. I'm afraid I made both of you look real bad."

Hermione finally said something, "All of you better write home now and explain how Ginny and Harry were just pranking you to get even for you yelling at them. When you mother sees what Percy wrote she'll be here by breakfast and there be hell to pay. Ginny, Harry, you better write to and explain what you did."

Percy said, "We can't tonight; it's past curfew even for me as Head Boy . None of us can get to the owlery to send a letter until morning."

"I'm dead," Ginny said, "mom won't give me a chance to say a word; she'll pull me out of Hogwarts and send me to a nunnery."

George said, "We won't let her Ginny; if she shows up we'll tell her the truth then."

"Yeah," Fred "we'll take the blame; we're used to her yelling at us."

Percy said, "I'll explain how I made a mistake to."

Only Ron said nothing, so Ginny asked, "Ron, what do you have to say?"

Ron said, "I'm not sure I believe your whole story. You both just happened to want to go out to the common room at the same time in the middle of the night to think. Then you both fell asleep; but Percy found you up against each other with Harry's robe covering you.

Harry, you expect me to believe you got up, took off your robe laid back down and covered both of you all while you were still asleep. If you woke up, why didn't you just come back here and leave Ginny sleep? Or, why not wake her up to and let her go back to her room?

And the kisses, if you never kissed before, and Ginny never gave you a sign that she wanted you to kiss her, why after the kiss in the common room didn't she get upset. Looking at the two of you I got the feeling you had been snogging for a long time and both of you were enjoying it.

I saw Ginny's face when you kissed the second time up here. I've never kissed a girl; but I've seen other people kiss and I swear you both looked like you didn't want to stop.

I think I'll need more convincing before I believe there's nothing between you."

Fred, George, and Percy looked back and forth from Ron to Harry to Ginny, as if they were considering if Ron made sense and might be correct.

Then Ginny said, "Ron's right that there is something between me and Harry; actually two things, the Chamber of Secrets, and our reaction to the Dementor. But that's all. I don't expect any of you to understand that, none of you were in the chamber, not even you Ron. You can't understand how that affected us and how the Dementor brought those feeling back.

All we can ask is that you believe Harry and I did nothing that we wouldn't do again in front of mom and dad."

Fred said, "That does it for me; Ginny is not a liar. I'm convinced nothing happened."

George and Percy both agreed; but again Ron said nothing.

It was late and everyone went to their rooms.

At two-forty-five, an alarm went off in Fred and George's beds. They got up and went to an alcove on the boy's stairs where they could see the common room. Ginny was coming down the girls' stairs; and as they watched she went to the third year boys' door.

After she entered the dorm room, Fred said, "I say we give her one minute to wake Harry and for them to come back out here; any longer than that, we go in."

George said, "I really wanted to believe Ginny when she said there was nothing between them and they didn't do anything; but Ron was pretty convincing about what Harry should have done if they really just fell asleep on the divan last night. Putting that tracking alarm charm on her was a good idea."

Fred said, "The minute is up and it looks like she's staying in there with him; I think we should do Disillusion Charms on ourselves and go to see if they're doing something they shouldn't."

They applied the charms and quietly opened the door. They were surprise to see that Ginny was standing next to Harry's bed. Harry was thrashing about talking in his sleep; he said, "Tom, it was you that forced Ginny to release the Basilisk; now you killed her and I'm going to kill you for hurting her."

Ginny was rubbing his hair and she said, "Harry, I'm okay; you killed Tom and the snake. You don't have to worry anymore."

The twins were frozen in place as they listened to Harry continue to talk in his sleep about someone he called Tom killing Ginny; and Ginny continuing to try and calm Harry down.

Then Ginny crawled in bed with Harry and snuggled up against him with her arm over his waist; she continued whispering into his ear until he settled down. Then she began softly singing a lullaby that their mother used to sing to them when they had trouble sleeping. After a few minutes, her voice faded; she had also fallen asleep cuddled against him.

George pulled Fred's arm and they went back to the stairs. George said, "What the Bloody Hell was that all about?"

Fred said, "They told us they were talking about what happened in the Chamber of Secrets and on the train with the Dementor; do you think Harry has nightmares and Ginny is trying to help him?"

George said, "How did Ginny know to come to Harry's room; unless she has nightmares to. Maybe she came to get him because she was afraid, and ended up with him also needing her help. That could be what happened last night; Ginny came to get Harry but instead of staying here like tonight, they went to the common room to talk just like they claimed."

Fred said, "Knowing Ginny, she would keep nightmares about what happened in the Chamber of Secrets a secret because mom would go around the twist if she found out. So what do we do now, wake them, or let our sister continue to sleep with Harry?"

George said, "For tonight, let's leave them rest; but tomorrow, we'll have to talk to them. If Percy or Ron catches them together again they'll tell mom and she will be here to pull Ginny out of school."

Fred said, "Agreed, but we'll have to wake them early tomorrow before Ron wakes and finds them."

On the way back to their room, George said, "You know brother of mine, as upset as I first got when Harry kissed her, …"

Fred continued, "… now I sort of think they would make a nice couple."

George added, "Harry is a good bloke, and he did risk his life to save her."

Fred said, "Agreed, and they're not really that young, after all, …"

George said, " … we started snogging girls when we were Ginny's age."

Fred added, "And Ginny has fancied Harry since she was little."

George went on, "And if we're right about them having nightmares; …"

Fred continued, "… and helping each other feel better, …"

George finished, "…them being together is a good thing."

The next morning, the twins discovered that Ginny must have left Harry's bed earlier, because she was gone when they went to wake her at six. Neither she nor Harry knew what the boys had seen.

Fred said, "We'll have to talk to them tonight."

George said, "We'll have to get them out of the common room so Ron and Percy don't hear us. Let's get to breakfast early, no use going back to sleep now."

In the morning, Ron was still acting strangely around Harry, so when Harry got to the common room, he decided to go to breakfast with just Hermione and leave Ron to think about how he hurt his sister and his best mate.

Ginny had come down the girls' stairs with Hermione so she joined them in the great hall. Ron eventually came to breakfast and sat with Fred and George who were still there a few feet further toward the head table talking about something. They stopped talking when Ron arrived.

Hermione was trying to get Harry and Ginny to talk more to her about their nightmares when the Weasley family owl Errol flew in with a red envelope tied to his leg. The old bird crash-landed in Ginny's eggs with the Howler and before she could get it off Errol's leg, it opened.

Mrs. Weasley's voice echoed all over the great hall,

"Ginevra Weasley, I'm ashamed of you sleeping with a boy at your age. I don't care how much you fancy Harry or that he saved your life, you're too young to start doing that sort of thing. I've written your brothers and told them, if they see you alone with Harry, to write and I'll pull you out of Hogwarts and home school you."

Everyone in the hall was laughing except the Weasleys, the teachers, Harry, and Hermione. Ginny and Harry were both bright red and were getting up to leave when Malfoy came over and said, "Congratulations Potter, that's very Slytherin of you; getting her to sleep with you as repayment for saving her life. I didn't think you were man enough.

But don't be surprised if the whore gets pregnant so she can get some money from you; you know those Weasleys will do…."

He didn't get any farther because Fred, George, and Ron came over and started punching Malfoy. Percy came to try and break up the fight; but it was Dumbledore's spell that finally forced everyone back away from each other.

McGonagall and Snape came down the aisle and McGonagall said, "You three Weasleys, how dare you attack Mr. Malfoy. Brawling in the great hall like Muggle barbarians; a week's detention for each of you.

Miss Weasley, Mr. Potter, I will speak to both of you in my office right now."

Ginny yelled, "That's so unfair, Harry and I didn't do anything, it's all their fault. My git brothers just couldn't keep their noses out of my life and had to write a bunch of lies to my mother and get me and Harry embarrassed in front of the whole school."

She pulled her wand and before McGonagall could stop her, without saying a word out loud, in rapid succession, Ginny pointed it each of her brothers and Malfoy. Oozing sores suddenly appeared on their hands, faces, and presumably all over the bodies of the five boys since they all started scratching madly trying to pull their robes off.

Snape said, "Professor McGonagall, do something about your students, the girl is out of control."

He pointed his wand at Malfoy and said, "Finite incantatem." Malfoy continued to scratch. Snape said, "Episkey." Nothing happened. Snape said, "Furnunculus recanto**."** Again nothing.

He glared at Ginny and said to McGonagall, "I am taking Mr. Malfoy to the hospital wing; I expect Miss Weasley to get a more severe punishment than just detention."

By then, Dumbledore had come over and said, "I believe we should all move to the hospital wing away from the rest of the students so we can sort out what happened in private."

When they got to the hospital, Madam Pomfrey took Malfoy, Fred, George, Ron, and Percy to the back of the room while Dumbledore said, "Now Miss Weasley, tell us how this incident got started."

Without mentioning they were having nightmares, Ginny started her story with her and Harry talking in the common room and falling asleep; then of brothers finding them and accusing her and Harry of being sexually involved and writing that to her mother, which led to the Howler. She admitted she and Harry had kissed twice to teased her brothers in order to get even.

She repeated what Malfoy said about her and Harry, which led to her brothers punching Malfoy. She ended with, "Harry and I didn't do anything wrong. Everything is the fault of my git brothers and Malfoy; I don't understand why we're in trouble."

Dumbledore looked as if he was going to say something when Madam Pomfrey came over and said, "I can't seem to cure their sores; what curse was used on them?"

They all turned to Ginny and she said, "Scabiocium, and you won't be able to cure them, even if you take them to St. Mungos; there is no cure. In seven days, the sores will dry on their own and the itching will stop."

Madam asked, "Where did a second year like you learn such a curse."

Ginny said, "Tom taught it to me last year when he possessed me. I know a couple of dozen curses worse than that, and if my git brothers or that slimy snake Malfoy don't leave me and Harry alone they'll see what else I can do."

She turned and ran out of the hospital; though McGonagall and Dumbledore both called her to come back, she didn't even look back. Harry hesitated only a second and ran after her.

Harry found her on the third floor and said, "Ginny, stop and let's talk about this."

She waited for him to catch up andwhen he did, he said, "We need to talk, but not in the hall; there's a secret passage that almost nobody knows about behind that tapestry."

He took her hand and led her into a dark passage, pulling the tapestry back over the opening. Though they were holding hands, it was so dark they could hardly see each other.

She said, "Harry, you have to stay away from me; all I do is get you in trouble. My brothers are mad at you, my parents are mad at you, McGonagall and Dumbledore are mad at you; all because of me."

He answered, "Ginny, you're not responsible for anything; you're like me, bad things just seem to happen to us. We'll straighten things out with your parents, and with McGonagall and Dumbledore. The twins will get over being upset quickly, and Ron will come around to; as for Percy, well he'll…"

Ginny interrupted him with, "Forget about Percy,he's a total arse; he'll forget about us and be after someone else breaking some school rule by tomorrow.

So does that mean you are still willing to talk with me about our nightmares?"

He said, "Just try and get rid of me."

She said, "If my brothers see us alone, they'll think we're snogging again and get mad."

Harry took her other hand in his and said, "Ginny, if your brothers are going to be mad at me because they think I'm snogging you, then they might as well be mad at me for really snogging you."

He pulled her close and kissed her; she was more than happy to kiss back.

As they were kissing, they heard voices out in the hall muffled by the tapestry. They broke off the kiss and listened.

They heard Snape say, "Headmaster, if Potter is truly involved with the Weasley girl; what will that do to your plans for him?"

Dumbledore said, "It's too early to tell, but everything I've been working on for twelve years could be ruined.

When I first heard the prophecy that either Mr. Potter or Mr. Longbottom would be the one to defeat Voldemort, I warned both their parents to go into hiding to keep the two boys safe until I could determine which of them was the one spoken of in the prophecy.

Once Voldemort attacked Harry and marked him as the prophecy foretold, I knew he was the one. Unfortunately, with Voldemort gone, the Longbottoms decided their son was not the one in the prophecy and no longer in danger. They came out of hiding and returned to their home where the Death Eaters found them leaving little Neville worse than an orphan.

But back to Harry, I knew it would take longer than I have left in my life for Harry to defeat Voldemort as the prophecy says only he can do; and I won't be able to finish his training. I needed to find someone to take over and help him when I'm gone.

With James and Lilly dead, Sirius in Prison, and me too old to see his training through, the best option left would be for him to form a long-term relationship with a strong, smart girl. As his wife, she could help him learn the skills he will need to defeat Voldemort, and at the same time provide emotional strength to continue what will surely be a long depressing struggle against Voldemort and his followers."

Snape said, "Pardon headmaster, but up until now, you don't seem to be giving Potter any intensive training that I have seen."

Dumbledore replied, "You can't expect an eleven, twelve, or even a thirteen-year-old boy to train intensively without rebelling eventually; so I've been attempting to give him a form of slow gradual training until I think he's mature enough to accept intensive training.

There was a lot of luck involved at first. I knew Harry's relatives hated magic; I put him with them because they provided a harsh childhood that would toughen Harry physically and mentally for the pain he will have to endure in facing Voldemort's curses and torture.

I knew after not being able to use his magic in a Muggle home, once at Hogwarts he would have a strong desire to develop his magic; and being deprived of love at home, once here he would be eager to find someone to love and to love him.

Then, Minerva gave me her report on Miss Granger. Minerva's visit to tell the Grangers that their daughter was a witch and registered to come to Hogwarts allowed her to learn that Miss Granger was extremely smart, motivated, and precocious; just the kind of girl Harry needed to help him develop his potential.

I had to arrange with the Sorting Hat for Miss Granger to be in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw where someone of her intelligence is normally placed. I believed Harry would fancy her once they were old enough; and she would be attracted to him. It was a perfect fit; as Harry's girlfriend and eventually his wife, she would motivate Harry to work harder to prepare for the ultimate battle with Voldemort. She has already been pushing him to work harder.

I've spent the last two years arranging for Harry to gradually develop his skills and at the same time getting him and Miss Granger to become closer so in a few years they would naturally think of marriage. Setting up clues for her to puzzle out and eventually go with Harry and save the Philosopher's Stone took nearly the entire first year.

I admit, allowing them to follow the clues and learn of the Chamber of Secrets rather than just stopping Miss Weasley from writing in the Bloody diary was taking a chance. I felt it was necessary to continue to develop Harry's skills and to let him see how valuable she could be to him thus drawing him closer to Miss Granger.

My only excuse was that I didn't know the truth about what the diary was at the time. I didn't realize how dangerous it was, or that Miss Granger would be petrified leaving Harry to rescue Miss Weasley alone. That is what started drawing Harry and Miss Weasley together and eventually led to this mess today."

Snape said, "Didn't you worry about Miss Weasley eventually being killed; or that opening the chamber and releasing the Basilisk could have killed a number of other students."

Dumbledore answered, "Of course I worried about that. I'm not heartless. I planned to do all I could to save as many students as I could; but preparing Harry to face Voldemort is more important to the greater good than the lives of Miss Weasley and a few other students.

You know better than most that if Voldemort returns, he could start another world war. How many thousands of magical lives will be lost? Perhaps millions of Muggle lives, if Harry doesn't stop Voldemort; andwe both know he's the only one that can do it.

I saw this thing with Miss Weasley coming when Harry came to visit her in the hospital last year. I tried to keep them apart; but Harry managed to sneak into the hospital to visit her anyway. I don't know what happened over the summer; but now, though still so young, from what her brothers are saying, it seems they are together intimately."

Snape said, "Why didn't you give Potter and Granger love potions in their first or even in their second year? They would have become intimate and the Weasley girl wouldn't have the chance to get to Potter."

Dumbledore said, "Love potions don't have much effect of prepubescent children. I thought I had time for them to mature; I thought that this year, I would be able to give them both love potions and cement their relationship."

Snape asked, "So do you now want me to brew love potions for both Potter and Granger?"

Dumbledore answered, "If it's true that Harry is intimate with Miss Weasley, a love potion to bring him back to Miss Granger won't work.

However, Miss Weasley could be a suitable substitute for Miss Granger; she might be just what Harry needs to defeat Voldemort. She is also strong, intelligent, and courageous; what I don't know yet is how her encounter last year with the young Tom Riddle will affect her.

If she can't handle the experience, she will sap his strength and be worse than useless to Harry. I will be hard pressed to get Harry to stop feeling sorry for her and eventually court Miss Granger.

If however, Miss Weasley can overcome the trauma of her possession, it will make her a stronger and an even more formidable wife for Harry. I wish I knew if she went to sleep with him to get comfort, or if she went to comfort him.

What I saw in the great hall today was encouraging; she is letting her anger out and not retreating into herself. That is as good as I could hope for this early into her recovery. She is not letting her brothers, or even me, tell her what to do. If she continues to become mentally toughened by her experience, I believe such a courageous and formidable girl will attract Harry.

Snape said, "What would you have done if Potter didn't fancy Granger or Weasley; what if he fancied other boys?"

Dumbledore said, "I considered the possibility, but at eleven years old it would be impossible to tell since most boys don't show interest in sex for another year or two. Since ninety percent of boys are heterosexual, I had to go with the odds that Harry would be to; I couldn't very well have set him up with both Miss Granger and some boy at the same time.

I am no longer worried about that, from what we overheard, he is already so attracted to Miss Weasley at age thirteen that they may be sleeping together. I still believe it was a better option to get Harry and Miss Granger together; but I may have no other choice but to push him and Miss Weasley into getting married.

Unfortunately, things are quite uncertain, by Wizarding Law, they cannot marry for five years when Miss Weasley turns seventeen; and a lot can happen in five years to ruin things, like her angry parents trying to break them Miss Weasley gets pregnant,it will be worse; Molly would be furious and will be sure to blame Harry, not her daughter.

Once I know Harry and Miss Weasley are definitely together, and I have no chance to get Harry to court Miss Granger, I'll speak with Arthur and Molly. I make them see that having Harry as a son-in-law is a good thing and arrange for them to encourage not discourage the relationship like with that Howler today."

Snape asked, "Is there anything you need me to do Headmaster."

Dumbledore said, "You better make a few batches of Birth Control potion; we can slip it into Miss Weasley's food monthly without telling her. We can't afford to have Harry get her pregnant at her age.

Perhaps, to be on the safe side,just in case these rumors of a relationship between Harry and Miss Weasley are not true, you should make those love potions for Harry,and Miss Granger. Also make some for Miss Weasley; in case the rumors are true.

In the future, I may need you to give Harry and one of the girls detention on the same night so they will spend time together united by their dislike for you. I will let you know when the time is right and which girl I want to set him up with."

Snape said, "If Miss Weasley is as promiscuous as her brothers think she is, she may already be on Birth Control potion; giving her more could cause medical problems."

Dumbledore said, "I'll ask Poppy if she's supplied any to Miss Weasley; it's not as if girls can mix their own batches here at school. Best if you mix up a few batches, if Poppy is giving it to her, she'll need more each month, if not, we'll add it to her meals.

If things work out according to my plan, we can always use the Birth Control potion on Miss Granger."

After Snape went down to the dungeon and Dumbledore up to his office, Harry and Ginny felt safe to start talking again. Ginny started by asking, "Harry did you ever fancy Hermione like Dumbledore was saying?"

Harry said, "No, never; Hermione is more like a sister to me. You know she fancies Ron and he fancies her.

I can't believe that Dumbledore has been planning to get me to marry Hermione; who does he think he is treating me and Hermione like Aunt Marge does when she arrangesfor a pair of dogs to be mated."

Ginny asked, "Harry, what about me? Dumbledore is considering mating us now like a pair of dogs. And he plans to give me Birth Control potion secretly.

Harry, you kissed me a few minutes ago; now that you heard his plan for us, is that going to make a difference to you?"

Harry said, "I kissed you this time because the last time we kissed I realized I was wrong when I said we're too young to snog and maybe in three or four years we might be ready. I realize that though we're young age wise, we're much older experience wise. Dealing with Tom makes you grow older fast.

We've had to fight and overcome more things than most old people in their thirties.

I don't want to wait to snog you; that is if you feel the same way. I know you're only twelve and I don't want to push you into snogging unless you feel you're ready to be my girlfriend."

She didn't answer him immediately. Ginny was ready to snog Harry; but was afraid to tell him why. It was the same reason she didn't want her parents to make her go to St. Mungos for a mental exam; what would he think if he learned that Tom's memories were still in her mind.

WhenTom possessed her, not only was she left with his memories, but also his ambition and maturity. Though physically twelve, mentally she felt more like she was a seventeen-year-old.

Tom was one of the smartest students to go through Hogwarts and driven to learn as much magic as he could. At seventeen, he knew advanced spell most of the teachers didn't know; but much of his knowledge was dark like the diary. He made a Horcrux at that age and now Ginny knew how to make one; she knew everything Tom knew when he made the diary.

She had all the knowledge, skills, and motivation of the seventeen-year-old Tom Riddle, but she was no longer possessed or controlled by Tom's the summer, she found she could draw on Tom's memories any time she needed to do things beyond her own level. She had only one problem, her magical power, like her twelve-year-old body, wasn't fully developed yet. She knew time would take care of that, as she grew, her power would grow with her.

She was thinking of what Dumbledore said,about Harry needing a smart, strong girl to help him face Voldemort. If Harry needed knowledge, skills, and motivation to defeat Voldemort, then using Tom's knowledge, she could give Harry all that.

She had always fancied Harry, and she realized Dumbledore was right. She had to get over her fear and start to give Harry strength rather than being weak and going to cry on his shoulder. She made up her mind that from now on, she would support him, not lean on him.

She knew how Tom gave his memories to her, and she could use the same method to give them to Harry, without possessing him. And she could get what she wanted at the same time, the boy she had dreamed about for years as her boyfriend and eventually as her husband. But she couldn't do it without telling him first; she didn't want to trick Harry into marrying her, she wanted him to want her and to love her.

She said, "Last night when you said we were too young to snog and should wait a few years I almost started crying. I want to snog you so badly I couldn't wait until we were alone. When you led me into this passage, all I could think about was, I hope he snogs me because if he doesn't I'll die."

Harry said, "So if we want to be together, what do we do about Dumbledore's plans?And your parents won't like us snogging either; especially in public, think of that Howler."

Ginny said, "Maybe what Dumbledore wants will help us; he did say he was going to talk to my parents to get them to encourage our relationship."

Harry said, "Good idea. I say we just do what we want and if what Dumbledore wants helps us, fine; and if what he wants goes against what we want we follow our desires and to hell with him."

Ginny made her decision, she said, "I'll go for that. Harry, there something I have to tell you before we do anything else. When Tom possessed me, I got all his memories. Even though you destroyed the diary, his memories are still in my head."

That shocked Harry and his face showed it.


	3. Chapter 3 - Ginny's Memories

Chapter III – Ginny's Memories

Harry looked at her and asked, "You don't mean he's still possessing you."

She said, "No, he's gone, I'm free of his will; but I still know everything he knew at the age of seventeen.

Harry asked, "Can you explain what happened?"

Ginny said, "There are three types of mental magic, Legilimency,Cognitive Projection, and Occlumency. Growing up with Muggles, I guess you would call Legimency mindreading."

Harry interrupted, "Tom could read minds; and now you can read minds. Can you read my mind?"

Ginny said, "Tom could; I can't, yet. I have his knowledge of how to do it, but I'll have to practice, it may be months or years before I can do it. That's not the point.

Legilimency lets you read someone's mind, Cognitive Projection lets you put ideas, thoughts, or memories into another person mind. Tom used it to give me his memories and I can give you all that knowledge just like he gave it to me."

Harry asked, "Don't you have to practice that first?"

Ginny said, "I have been; all , I accidently put the thought that I wasn't having nightmares into my mother's mind. Then I learned how to purposely put that thought into my father and brothers' minds.

I told you, at the beginning of the summer, they bothered me constantly, asking how I was, telling me what to do and not to do to feel were driving me around the twist until Ilearned how to stop them.

One day, my mother was on me about what happened in the chamber; I was wishing I could just make her stop and leave me alone, and suddenly she a second, she stopped asking me about the chamber and started talking about something totally different.

By then, I knew I had Tom's knowledge in my head. After my mother stopped asking about the chamber, I started looking though his memories until I found the one on Cognitive Projection. I realized what I did;I started practicing it and eventually was able to do it to everyone that bothered me about the chamber or my nightmares."

Harry asked, "What's the third thing, Occlumency?"

Ginny said, "It blocks someone else from using Legilimency or Cognitive Projection on you. It's in Tom's memories and we'll have to start practicing it someday.

Harry, I told you all of this because Dumbledore said he was slowly training you by giving you clues about the Philosophers Stone and the Chamber of Secrets. He said he was preparing you because you will have to fight Tom one day and you weren't ready to accept intensive training.

If you want, I can give you all of Tom's knowledge up until he made the diary at seventeen; and I can give it to you today. Part of Tom's memories is his ambition to learn and succeed; you'll get that desire to prepare yourself now, not years from now like Dumbledore was talking about.

Think of it Harry, instead of spending the next four years learning spells and potions; you'll know everything through the middle of seventh year and more by tonight. Tom's knowledge was advanced well beyond his seventh year. Then we can work ahead, we'll still have to practice using his knowledge, but we can get you prepared to face Tom much sooner, for whenever he comes again.

What if he comes back tomorrow; are you ready to face him. I admit, even with the knowledge I can give you, you won't be ready to face an adult Tom; I'm sure he's learned many things since he was seventeen. You will be more than four years ahead of where you are now; at least you'll be more prepared.

Tom gave me his knowledge so he could make me kill innocent people and do evil; this is a chance to use his own knowledge against him, to maybe kill him and save innocent lives."

Harry said, "That would be ironic; he used his knowledge to kill and hurt so many people, it would be awesome to use it against him."

Harry though about what Ginny said, and she made sense. He just heard Dumbledore say he would have to face Voldemort someday because of some prophecy and he needed to train; getting the training as fast as he could made sense.

He asked, "Ginny, how long will it take for you to transfer Tom's knowledge to me?"

She said, "A few hours; the first time he possessed me, he gave it all to me so I could open the chamber. We can do it tonight if you meet me in the common room after everyone else goes to bed."

Harry said, "Okay, at midnight then. So what do we do about Dumbledore's plans for us?"

Ginny said, "I don't care what Dumbledore plans for us; right now I want to snog you, and later I want to help you kill Tom. What do you want?"

He didn't answer in words, but pulled her against him. They couldn't snog long because they both had a nine o'clock class. As they left the secret passage, they agreed to tell Hermione what they overheard, Ron to if he was willing to listen.

Harry decided not to talk with Hermione until Ginny was there to; and when he got to his class, he saw Ron was missing, probably still in the hospital. Hermione told him Madam Pomfrey wouldn't release the Weasleys and Malfoy since their sores were oozing pus, and not knowing if they were contagious, she didn't want them getting it on the furniture or on other students.

Hermione also told him McGonagall had come back to the great hall looking for him and Ginny, and that she wasn't in a good mood. She wanted to see them after morning classes today. If Hermione didn't get the message to them before then, McGonagall want to see them after dinner tonight.

Harry passed Ginny in the hall after their first period, and they decided to see McGonagall after their second class, before going to eat.

Harry and Ginny went to McGonagall's office expecting at least Ginny to be punished because of the curses she cast on Malfoy and her brothers. To their surprise, McGonagall said, "Miss Weasley, Mr. Potter, please be seated.

As head of your house, it is not only my responsibility to see to your magical education; but also to see that you grow into responsible adults. After that Howler this morning, I feel I need to ask if your mother Miss Weasley, and your uncle Mr. Potter, have talked to you about how your bodies and feelings change as you go through puberty."

They both got red in the face, but Ginny spoke first, "You brought us here to give us a sex talk? Well you're too late, my mother talked to me over the summer when I started my menses."

McGonagall's lips narrowed to a slit, a sign she wasn't pleased; but she turned to Harry.

He said, "My uncle never talks to me unless he's yelling about something. I don't know what Ginny meant about starting her menses; but I know enough about sex from the stories the guys like Ginny's brothers tell after a date. So I don't need you to tell me about it."

McGonagall's lips got as narrow as Harry had ever seen them when Ginny giggled and said, "I'll explain allabout itto you tonight Harry."

McGonagall said, "You are not helping the situation Miss Weasley, this is a serious matter.

Mr. Potter, if you don't feel comfortable talking about this with a female teacher; perhaps Professor Snape would be willing to talk with you."

Harry yelled, "Talk to Snape about sex, oh Merlin, I think I just threw up in my mouth; I'm glad we didn't eat before we came here."

McGonagall said, "Mr. Potter, you will be respectful of your Professors or you will be in detention until June.

As head of Gryffindor house, it is my duty to tell you what is acceptable behavior and unacceptable behavior for boys and girls your age, and I will not have you two behaving in a way that brings disgrace on not only Gryffindor house, but the entire school.

Harry asked, "Why are you doing this to us? We never did anything unacceptable; Ginny told you that this morning. Everything that happened was because Ginny's brothers let their imaginations run away with them."

Ginny said, "Did my mother owl you and tell you to talk with us. Percy wrote her a bunch of lies about us; that's why the Howler. But I guess humiliating us in front of the whole school isn't enough for her, she has to get a teacher to humiliate us again."

McGonagall said, "Professor Dumbledore instructed me, as head of Gryffindor House, to talk with you to before the two of you do something to get yourselves into more serious trouble than your brothers writing your mother."

Ginny said, "Dumbledore wants Harry to married me now that Hermione isn't an option anymore; but he's afraid I'll get pregnant and my parents will break us up. That's why he told you to give us a sex talk and why he wants to slip birth control potion into my food."

McGonagall said, "Miss Weasley, I understand you are upset, but you will address the Headmaster as such, or as Professor. I don't understand why you would think he would want twelve and thirteen year old students to marry; and I can assure you the headmaster would never surreptitiously give birth control potion to a student."

Harry took Ginny's hand and when she looked at him, he shook his head to warn her not to say any more.

McGonagall noticed that but continued, "As far as the Howler, you are only twelve years old, it is only proper that your parents would be concerned about the possible of pregnancy when they learn you were caught by your brothers sleeping with your boyfriend with your night clothes in disarray."

Harry said, "Ginny, forget it, she's not going to listen to what we say; and neither will Dumbledore, pardon me, I mean Professor Dumbledore.

Professor McGonagall, if you're going to give us detention, tell us when; and if you're done with you sex education lecture; may Ginny and I go and eat before we have to be in class.

McGonagall's lips disappeared all together, and he thought she was going to yell at him; but she calmly said, "Very well, you two may go. But, Miss Weasley, should you usethat curse, or any other similar curse, on anyone again, including your brothers, the headmaster said you will not get detention, you will be suspended from school for a minimum of one month."

That evening, they told Hermione what they over heard between Dumbledore and Snape;she couldn't believe what Dumbledore already did, and about his plans for them. She was outraged and wanted to confront Dumbledore tomorrow, but they talked her out of it saying he would just deny it anyway.

They also said it was better for them if Dumbledore didn't know they overheard him because he might erase their memory of what they way, they could watch out for anything about their interpersonal relationships that seem odd, perhaps because Dumbledore was casting spells or giving them potions to try and get them to act a certain way.

The twins of course, still in the hospital, never got to talk to Ginny and Harry about seeing them together in bed last night, so Harry and Ginny still didn't know about that.

That night, Ginny took almost three hours transferring all the knowledge Tom had given her over to Harry. He couldn't believe how smart Tom was at seventeen. The process was tiring, so they didn't stay up to talk. They needed to rest so Ginny came straight to bed with Harry to save time and avoid nightmares.

Next morning, on the way to breakfast Harry asked, "Ginny, do you think we should visit your brothers in the hospital; maybe if we talk with them we can at least work things out with them before we have to face your parents."

Ginny said, "I have Herbology then Charms; do you want to go right after our second class, before eating like we did with McGonagall yesterday?"

Harry agreed. At the end of second period, he met Ginny at the entrance to the hospital and they went in together. Madam had the four Weasleys in the last beds at the far end of the room and Malfoy in the first bed nearest her office, most likely to protect Malfoy by preventing the Weasleys from going after him again.

Ginny thought if she was going to help guide and train Harry, now was the time for her to take control of their lives, so she asserted herself by saying, "Harry and I want to talk; you four be quiet and listen, or we'll leave."

None of the boys said anything so she continued, "Good, here's what's going to happen; Harry and I are going to get together a couple of time a week, in private, to talk about what Tom did to each of us and to try and get our heads straight about those things.

None of you will bother us, follow us, or ask questions about where we go or what we were doing. If we decide we want to snog, that's our business.

Percy, you will write home today and tell mom and dad you wrote that letter because we pranked you and didn't tell you the truth until after you sent it.

If you all agree to our terms, I'll tell Madam you're not contagious, she can give you something to lessen the itching, and you can get out of here today. If you do anything to hurt Harry or you break the rules I just gave you, I'll put you right back in here with a curse that will hurt more and last longer.

What do you have to say?"

Fred said, "We believed you the first night, …"

George continued, "… and we won't bother you or do anything to you or Harry, …"

Fred went on, "… except for normal pranks, you can't expect us to stop those all together."

George added, "But we would like to talk more with you two in private when we get time."

Ginny looked at Harry and he said, "Agreed guys, your usual minor pranks are fine, but nothing severe; and we'll talk tonight if you two want to."

Ginny looked at Percy and he said, "I believe you Ginny, if you say you and Harry didn't do anything you couldn't do in front of mom and dad, I'll take your word."

Ginny looked at Ron and waited. When Ron didn't answer, Ginny said, "Let's go Harry, the deal's off; it was all of them or nothing."

She started to walk away and Percy, Fred, and George started to yell at Ron.

George said, "Ron, if we're stuck here itching and scratching because of you, …"

Fred added, "… you'll wish you were home again with mom, …"

George went on, "… because Ginny will never get a chance to curse you again, …"

And uncharacteristically, Percy finished with, "… because I'll see to it that you'll never get out of detention long enough for her to even see you much less curse you."

Ron said, "But I know she's snogging Harry and maybe more."

The other three said, "We don't care if she's shagging Harry, it's not our business."

With the thought of Ginny and Harry shagging now put in his head, Ron glared at Harry. Harry said, "Ron, you know I wouldn't; and Ginny wouldn't either, I promise you we won't do anything inappropriate."

Ron said, "Okay, I agree as long as I don't see them constantly snogging in public."

Ginny said, "And you won't follow us around or question us every time we're together for more than five minutes?"

Ron said, "Yes, I'll leave you alone."

Ginny called out, "Madam Pomfrey."

When she came out of her office, Ginny said, "You don't have to keep the boys here; they're not contagious. The sores won't heal for a week, but diluted Bubotuber salve rubbed on four times a day will reduce the amount of oozing pus. If they cover the sores with gauze to absorb the remaining pus and change the gauze every six hours, they can go to class.

If essence of Murtlap tentacles is added to theBubotuber salve it will ease their itching to a tolerable level until the sores heal totally. If they wear gloves they won't get pus on anyone or anything."

Madam asked, "Are you sure they're not contagious?"

Ginny said, "Of course, the curse stimulates the skin to secrete the pus which breaks through the skin as the sores; but there is no disease involved and the curse can't rub off."

Madam said, "Well it's your curse so you should know. I have enough Bubotuber salve so I'll all I have to do is mix in the essence of Murtlap and all five boys will be able to leave in an hour or so."

Ginny asked, "Couldn't you keep Malfoy all week and let him itch, as a favor to me."

Madam almost laughed, but said, "Your curse made five patients for me to take care of all night, and nowyou ask for a favor. Malfoy goes in one hour just like your brothers."

Ginny shrugged and said, "Oh well, I tried."

Harry said, "I have a class in half an hour; I'm going to get something to eat."

Ginny said, "Me to, I'll go with you; we'll see you guys at dinner."

When they got to the great hall, Harry took half a bowl of soup and a small piece of Sheppard's Pie. Ginny said, "Harry, that's not enough food for a growing boy, you have to eat more."

Harry said, "That's my normal portion, I don't eat a lot."

Ginny said, "Didn't you listen to Dumbledore? One day you'll have to face Voldemort again; what chance do you think you'll have if you're nothing but skin and bones.

You have all of Tom's knowledge; but you need to practice it,study, and learn even more advanced spells. You have to start training physically now to build up your body, you have to work out and get some muscles on you, you have to run and build up stamina so you don't tire out two minutes into a duel. And you can't do all that eating barely enough food to keep a Flobberworm alive."

Harry asked, "Why do you suddenly care about all that?"

Ginny said, "How could you think I just started to care about you; I've always cared about you. Now that you're my boyfriend, do you think I'll let you go off to duel Tom if you're not prepared. I expect you to be with me for many years after you eliminate him; so I'm going to help you prepare as best as you can.

If you really care for me, you try your best to be ready whether he shows up,tomorrow, or fifty years from now. Remember, from what we heard Dumbledore say, the prophecy must mean you can defeat him; but you can bet it would be easy, you'll have to try your best."

Harry's mind went back to what Dumbledore said; then he smiled and said, "Dumbledore also said you could be just what I need to help me defeat Voldemort."

He took more soup and Sheppard's' Pie then said, "If you promise to keep helping me; I promise to try my best to prepare to face him. Agreed?"

Ginny said, "Agreed.

We start training tomorrow morning; at six, we run to build stamina, and we lift weights at the Gryffindor Quidditch weight room in the evening to build muscles. Strengthening our bodies will also strengthen our magic.

We have Tom's knowledge; but we still have to do homework if we don't want to fail our classes. So we need to get all our homework done during free time every afternoon.

Agreed?"

Harry said, "Agreed, but only if we get to snog a little sometime in between."

Ginny said, "Agreed.

So be sure to get your work done early today; because tonight may be the last time we don't have to schedule snogging time."

At dinner, they sat with only Hermione because the Weasley brothers decided to eat in the kitchen rather than having everyone in the great hall stare at them trying to hold knives and forks with gloves covering their hands. Ginny loaded both her plate and Harry's with food.

After dinner, back in the common room, Harry made it a point to tell Ron that he and Ginny were going to walk around the seventh floor hall so they could talk in private.

He said, "I'm letting you know where we'll be because I understand how much you love Ginny and want to protect her Ron; but we won't always be able to do that. Just know I'll do everything to protect her just like in the Chamber of Secrets last year. You have to trust me like you did then."

All Ron said was, "Okay Harry."

They did walk and talk; but also did some snogging. They found all the Weasley boys sitting in the common room when they returned; but none of them gave more than a glance to Harry or Ginny.

After Percy went on hall patrol and Ron was busy with a chess game against Seamus, the twins came over to where Harry and Ginny sat.

Fred said, "You two haven't been truthful with us."

Ginny pulled her wand and said, "The agreement was you wouldn't ask us questions."

George said, "Calm down, we're on your side. We saw you go to Harry's bed that night after the argument and we want you to know we understand why."

Fred continued, "You both get nightmares, don't you. We only wanted to offer you two any help you might want."

George said, "And we won't tell Percy or Ron you're sleeping together; like you, we don't think they'll understand."

Fred added, "If things get tough and you need some help, all you have to do is ask."

Harry asked, "Why did you guys change your mind about us?"

George said, "That night, when we saw how much Ginny loves you, …"

Fred finished, "… how could we not want to help our little sister and her boyfriend."

Ginny said, "Thanks guys."

George said, "One thing though; we get to be …."

Fred finished, "… godfather to your first kid."

The twins ran as Ginny pointed her wand at them but she didn't cast a spell.

She said to Harry, "They're going to take the mickey out of us like that every chance they get."

Harry said, "I don't mind; at least they're on our side."

Ginny said, "Yeah, I suppose so. Now, off to bed, we're getting up early to start running. I'll come over to your bed after Ron gets to sleep."

Again, at twelve in the morning, the twin's alarm went off and they saw Ginny come and slip into Harry's bed. This time Harry wasn't having a nightmare, and Ginny simple snuggled against him and fell asleep in less than a minute.

The next morning, Harry's alarm went off at five-thirty and Ginny slipped out of Harry's bed to go back to her own room to get dressed. As Harry was putting on sweat clothes and his trainers, Ron woke and asked, "Where are you going so early? Breakfast isn't for more than two hours."

Harry said, "I'm going to run for an hour, then shower before breakfast."

Ron asked, "Why? Have you gone around the twist or something?"

Harry said, "After Ginny cursed you guys two days ago, we heard Dumbledore say something that made me realize that someday I'll have to face Voldemort, if I want to beat him and not just manage to escape, I'll have to train and prepare starting now."

Ron asked, "What exactly did he say and why didn't you tell me before?"

Harry said, "First, you wanted to hex me, then you were in the hospital, so I didn't get the chance. If you want to come run I'll tell you; otherwise you'll have to wait until I get back and we can speak privately."

Ron looked at his clock again and said, "Not even six, I guess I can wait a few more hours."

Ron rolled over as Harry left. When he got to the common room, Harry found Ginny dressed in shorts, a tee, and trainers. He said, "I thought you were just coming to watch and encourage me. I didn't know you planned to run; you don't have to."

Ginny said, "We're in this together, so if I don't train with you, what shape will I be in when weduel Tom together. We run, study, lift weights, and practice spells together; this is a team effort Harry."

They went out and ran, or more correctly, after getting winded in five minutes, they jogged for the rest of the hour. As they came back into the castle, they met Professor McGonagall near the great hall.

She said, "What were you two doing outside at this time of the morning?"

Harry answered, "We were running, we decided we need to get in better shape for the next time we run into Voldemort."

McGonagall flinched when Harry said the name, then she said, "You are not allowed out before sunrise; don't you remember Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban and there are Dementors surrounding the grounds."

Harry said, "We were at the Quidditch Pitch, we didn't go near any of the boundaries."

McGonagall said, "Where you ran doesn't matter, it is not safe to be out of the castle in the dark; especially for you Mr. Potter. If I catch you again it will mean detention."

On the way to the common room, they talked about when they could run if not at six in the morning. Ginny said, "We don't have another time free, so if we can't find another time, we have to find another place; we have to run inside."

Harry said, "Where?"

Ginny said, "Right here, nobody is in the halls at six in the morning; we can be done before anyone heads to breakfast. We'll run laps around the halls and up or down the stairs if we have to; McGonagall can't complain if we stay inside."

Harry said, "Agreed. Let's shower and meet in the common room at ten of eight to go to breakfast."

He was waiting for her when Ron came down the boys' stairs; a minute later Ginny came down the girls' stairs with Hermione in tow.

In the great hall, Ginny, who last year sat with her roommates, now began tosit next to Harry leaving Ron and Hermione to sit across from them.

In the past for breakfast, Harry normally had a serving spoon full of eggs, a rasher of bacon or a slice of ham, and a slice of toast. Today Ginny put three spoons of eggs on her plate then three on Harry's plate, followed by three rashers of bacon and twoslices of ham for each of them, two bangers each, a couple of kippers each, and four pieces of toast each.

By then, Hermione had stopped eating and was staring at Harry and Ginny. She said, "Harry, do you think we're not going to get another meal today? And why is Ginny putting food on your dish?"

At the mention of Ginny putting food on Harry's dish, Ron stopped eating and looked across the table.

Harry said to Hermione, "You remember we told you what Dumbledore said; well Ginny and I talked it over and decided if we have to face Voldemort again we're going to be ready. We started training this morning."

Ginny broke in with, "Harry needs to build up some muscle and to do that he needs to exercise and eat more; he never got enough to eat at his relatives' house, that's why he so thin and not as tall as he should be."

Ron asked, "When are you going to tell me what Dumbledore said; and why is Ginny training to fight 'You Know Who'?"

Ginny said, "Ron, you better start listening to me. Didn't I tell you yesterday that Harry and I are talking about what Tom did to both of us; don't you remember it was me he took into the Chamber of Secrets?

Do you think I'm just going to sit in a corner and cry until he comes after me again? I intend to be as prepared as possible to fight him if I meet him again; and you should be too. Both of you should start training with Harry and me; after all, you're both around Harry all the time and there is a good chance you'll be there the next time Tom shows up."

Harry added, "And McGonagall reminded us this morning that Sirius Black is after me too; training will help if he eventually shows up."

Ginny said, "I think both of you should go with us tonight to lift weights, and run with us tomorrow morning at six.

Oh Harry, I was thinking we have to start dueling practice to; but I'll have to figure how to fit time into our schedule. Hermione, do you think you could help us by finding a few books about dueling techniques and with spells we could use?"

She answered, "You're both really serious about this, aren't you?"

Harry said, "Of course we're serious. And Ginny, speaking of scheduling time, don't forget Quidditch practice will be starting soon and I'll have to be there a couple of nights a week instead of lifting."

Ginny said, "I thought of that, I'll lift those nights; flying will give you enough exercise. I know after an hour of gripping the broom with my legs and using my arms to steer through loops and rolls I'm tired out."

Ron asked, "What do you know about flying? You never played Quidditch."

Ginny said, "Ron, what you don't know about me would fill several books."

Harry broke in with, "Ginny, I don't want you lifting weights alone, it's not safe without someone to spot for you. You could get hurt with nobody around to help."

Ginny said, "I won't be alone, Ron and Hermione will be lifting with me, right guys? Harry, you don't think Wood will mind us using the Quidditch weight room will he?"

Harry said, "I don't think he'll mind, there's plenty of equipment for the team and the four of us to. If he says no, I'll just tell him I quit the team so I can train with you instead; he'll let us lift.

Ron, Hermione, are you going to train with us?"

Hermione said, "I don't know, I have a lot of classes and that means a lot of homework; I don't think I'll have time."

Ron said, "Me to, I don't know if all this exercise makes sense."

Harry looked at Ginny first then at Ron. Ginny caught the idea and said, "That's okay Ron, if you're not there it will give me and Harry a lot more time alone."

Ron looked at them and said, "Maybe I should run and lift with you; maybe you're right about getting in shape in case Sirius Black or 'You Know Who' shows up."

That night at seven, the four of them went to the Gryffindor Quidditch weight room near the pitch and figured out a routine suitable for each of their body sizes and conditions. They lifted for an hour and when they got back to the castle, McGonagall was waiting for them.

She said, "Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, I thought I told you you're not allowed out of the castle when it's dark; detention with me tomorrow at seven. Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, now you have been warned to, if I catch either of you out at night, you will also be getting detention."

Harry pleaded, "But Professor, how can we train if we're not allowed out? What about Quidditch; the team lifts at night and we fly until it gets too dark to see. Are you going to give the whole team detention every night?"

McGonagall said, "Arrangements have been made for Madam Hooch to be at the pitch once Quidditch practices start; but you four cannot wander about without an adult, especially you Mr. Potter."

Ginny asked, "If we can get a teacher to stay with us, then can we lift at night?"

McGonagall said, "I suppose, if you can get a teacher to agree to be there, then you may train at night; but I don't know which teacher would agree to spend every night with you."

Ginny said, "That's our problem."

They hurried up to the dorm to shower because Hermione already had a lot of homework due. On the way up, Ron said, "I guess that's the end of your working out, you'll never get a teacher to come sit with you every night."

Ginny said, "I bet Hagrid would, at least on most nights; if Harry approaches him the right way and tells him why we need to work out."

Harry said, "I would feel guilty taking up Hagrid's time to watch us."

Ginny said, "He sits alone in his cottage most nights doing minor chores, he can darn his socks or feed a bottle to an orphaned Kneazle while he sits with us in the weight room. It's not a far walk from his cottage and he'd have someone to talk to at the same time. Just ask him Harry."

It actually didn't take much persuasion to get Hagrid to agree, though he said there would be some nights he had other things to do and couldn't be with them.

They settled into a routine fairly quickly, at least Ginny and Harry did. They ran the halls at six in the morning with Hermione usually there; and Ron half of the time, though he grumbled about getting up early when he did run. They lifted weights at seven each night; again with Hermione and Ron occasionally coming.

Harry and Ginny got their work done during free time in the mornings and Ginny started sneaking over to sleep with Harry, their nightmares stopped and they got as much sleep as they needed.

One day, Harry asked, "Ginny, I don't understand how Tom's knowledge is helping us. I mean, if I have his memories, why don't I already know what a teacher is talking about in class. I have to take time to go looking through Tom's memories; but if I do it once, I never have to look for that fact again."

Ginny answered, "I know what you mean. It's caused by the way his knowledge was passed to us. When I first started writing in the diary, Tom would occasionally show me one of his memories. For example, when I wrote about being upset because Ron told me to get lost because he didn't want me to hear what you were talking about; Tom would show me his memory of other kids at the orphanage teasing him because they thought he was different.

It took time to show each memory that way; but on Halloween, the first time he actually possessed me, he did something different. With individual thoughts, I saw them at normal speed like watching anything else and I remembered what he showed me.

After he possessed me, there were so many things he wanted me to do, it would have taken him months to teach me everything at normal speed. Instead, he sort of pushed all his thoughts into my head at high speed. They were in my head, but when I needed a particular spell or skill for the first time, like Parseltongue to open the chamber, I had to pull it from his memory into my memory, then it stayed with me.

That's what I did for you, high-speed Cognitive 's like we have two minds in our heads, our own and Tom's. Each of our original minds is directly connected to our individual body, we use our knowledge, emotions, and moral upbringing all the time for livingevery day.

Tom's mind is not connected to our body; hismemories are like a library full of facts. We have to go to that library, find a fact, transfer it to our mind, and then it stays there to be used when necessary.

Harry said, "When you told me about having Tom's knowledge, I thought it would be different; that we would just know everything like we would if we were in seventh year. How will it help if we have to sit in class for the next four years and learn things as usual?"

Ginny thought about it and said, "Well, it helps that we learn things faster, and remember them better; at least I do. And we can start using our spare time to go through Tom's memories and transfer the important one so they'll be there before we reach them in class."

Harry said, "What spare time, we already go from six in the morning to ten or eleven every night; we don't have spare time. Unless you want to give up snogging time?"

Ginny said, "No I don't. But we will have spare time; a few hours we can use to transfer

Tom's memories every weekend, more time over Christmas break and other holidays, during the summer. I never said it would be easy Harry; it will take some time, but not nearly as much as it would without Tom's knowledge. I bet we can transfer all six years of learningfrom Tom's memories in less than one actual year."

Harry asked, "Do you think we should tell Hermione and Ron about Tom's memories? We could transfer the memories to them; after all, they're training with us most of the time so they can help when Tom returns; Tom's knowledge will make them more helpful."

Ginny said, "Do you think Ron will sit and spend the time to transfer Tom's memories; he barely spends enough time to do his homework. Besides, he can't keep a secret, one day he'll get mad about something and blab it to everyone without thinking.

And what do you think Hermione would say and do if we told her Tom's knowledge is in our heads?"

Harry said, "She'd think you were still being possessed and helped him possess me. Then she'd run to Dumbledore to tell him."

Ginny said, "Not exactly. I don't think she trusts Dumbledore since we told her his plans for us, but she would tell McGonagall, then McGonagall would tell Dumbledore. I think it's best if we don't tell them or anyone else about this."

Over the next few weeks, Harry realized she was right about Tom's knowledge helping; he was getting his work done much quicker this year, and it seemed easier. Also, his grades were higher than the past two years despite all the other things he was doing.

He knew it was because he was constantly transferring more of Tom's knowledge into his own mind. He didn't have to go to the school library and spend time to look up things in books; more and more facts were already in his head, so it only took minutes instead of hours to write it down as an essay.

Hermione had so much of her own work to do, she no longer had time to help Harry or check his finished work, and she told him so. It didn't matter; he and Ginny began to review each other's work since they had the same he found an important fact in Tom's memories, he told Ginny, and she transferred it her mind to, she did the same for him.


	4. Chapter 4 - Sirius Black

Chapter IV – Sirius Black

Hagrid came to guard them as they lifted weights every night until Quidditch practice started; then Madam Hooch was there. Even then, Hagrid would sometimes come just to talk.

McGonagall gave them permission to practice dueling in an unused third floor classroom as long as they didn't use any dangerous spells. They place protective wards on the walls, ceiling, and floor to keep from damaging them. Ron and Hermione came to duel about as often as they came to run or lift, a couple of days a week.

Hermione was puzzled why Harry and Ginny were learning new spells so much faster than she was; but credited it to the fact that they practiced every day and she, only practiced two or three days a week. She also believed their increase in power behind their spells was cause by the extra days of running and lifting weights.

When they could fit the time in their schedule, they went through the five books on beginner dueling that Hermione had picked out from the library. Tom already knew all of the spells, but the books gave them ideas about linking wand movements for several spells in a chain, which increased their speed of casting.

After Ginny asked him, Professor Flitwick agreed to give them pointers in dueling; Harry never knew the little charms teacher was once an international dueling champion.

Flitwick told them, "The most important thing in a duel is not the number of spells you know; it's your attitude. The willingness to take chances and be daring can often give you the element of surprise. Of course, to catch your opponent unready, you must be fast.

Althoughas second and third years you are fairly young for it, you should start learning to do silent magic. It not only gives you speed at casting spells, it also doesn't give your opponent a clue to which spell you are casting."

From Tom's memories, Harry knew about silent casting of spells; but he also knew, as a third year he shouldn't know it. To throw off Flitwick, he asked, "What do you mean by silent magic?"

Ginny answered him, "It means just thinking the words of a spell and not saying them aloud."

Harry looked at her and gently shook his head; she saw and caught his meaning so to cover her mistake, she said, "My older brothers, Bill and Charlie, told me about it."

Flitwick said, "Normally your teachers won't teach that skill until you start sixth year; but considering what you're training for, you should start practicing now. I will help with it, but it is mostly your concentration and magical power that matters; so you'll have to build them both through exercise and meditation."

Ginny and Harry tried some silent spells immediately; but since their magical power was still developing, they could only do a few simple ones.

The only way to develop their magical power quickly was to develop their physical strength; they pushed their exercise program. Ginny continued to load their dishes at every meal and after feeling stuffed for the first week, Harry now found himself easily eating everything Ginny put on his plate, and occasionally even taking an extra treacle tart.

Using something they found in Tom's memories, Scarpin's Reveal-a-spell, they also began checking their food and drinks at every meal for love potions, birth control potions, or any other potion that Dumbledore or Snape might be secretly giving them.

Even with all the calories they were burning by working out, in two months, by the end of October, they could feel the changes in their bodies and magical power. Harry grew an inch and gained five pounds, all muscle mostly in his arms and legs. Ginny was also developing an athletic body, slim and feminine, but with defined muscles.

They could now do many simple spells silently and were learning to do some more advanced spells silently.

Of course they avoided doing silent magic in class where they could be seen by others; Hermione in particular would get suspicious if she caught them doing sixth year silent magic. She had already asked a couple of questions about how Ginny, a second year, had been able to check Harry's third year charms and transfigurations homework.

Classes went well except for potions where Snape continued to be a git. The new DADA teacher Professor Lupin proved to be a very good teacher and his class soon became everyone's favorite. Harry had only one complaint, when Lupin taught the defense against Boggarts, he wouldn't let Harry have a turn to banish the Boggart.

As Halloween and the first Hogsmeade weekend approached, Harry became more surly; but he no longer had fits of temper like in the previous two years, not since he and Ginny started snogging and sleeping together.

When he was tired from training or studying and occasionally snapped at Ginny, she snapped back saying things like, "Stop it Harry, you have Sirius Black and Voldemort both trying to kill you; and all you worry about is not being able to go to town and buy candy. I'll tell Hermione to buy you some, but grow up and start worrying about what's important."

Harry was used to Ron and Hermione trying to avoid aggravating him by tiptoeing around when he had one his temper tantrums; Ginny was acting more like one of the teachers, telling him to grow up. Standing up to him made Harry realize how serious she was about helping him.

One day just before the Hogsmeade weekend he was upset and said, "Ginny, you grew up around magical things like the shops in Hogsmeade. I've been waiting two years to see a magical town, and now I can't because my rotten aunt and uncle wouldn't sign the permission slip."

She said, "I understand that you're upset Harry, but it's still not the most important thing in your life. Look at it this way, with Ron and Percy in town; we can snog without worrying about them catching us."

That made him smile. He said, "Alright, as soon as they leave, let's take a walk. We still can't snog in the common room in case someone else sees us and tells Ron or Percy."

Because neither of them were allowed in town, and since they were afraid to go out of the castle in case McGonagall saw them and thought they were trying to sneak into town, they walked about the halls stopping in hidden areas to snog. Rounding a corner, they almost knocked Professor Lupin over.

Lupin asked, "Harry, why aren't you in town with Ron and Hermione; aren't they your best friends?"

Harry snapped at Lupin answering curtly, "I'm not allowed."

Lupin asked, "You don't seem to be very happy about that. Do you want to talk about it?"

Harry said, "My aunt and uncle wouldn't sign the permission form; but that doesn't matter anyway. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall said I wouldn't be allowed to go to town anyway because Sirius Black is after me; and you already know I also have problems with the Dementors that are surrounding the grounds.

They won't even let me and Ginny go outside to run or lift weights without a teacher to guard us."

Lupin looked at Ginny and said, "You and Ginny spend a lot of time together. Do you want to talk about that?"

Harry said, "Why does everyone worry about what Ginny and I do? First it was Dumbledore, then her brothers, then McGonagall, now you; why can't people just leave us alone?"

Lupin said, "Because a lot of people think you're important Harry; they love you and want what's best for you."

Harry said, "They want what they think is best for me; nobody but Ginny ever asked, or cared what I want. McGonagall thinks I need a nanny; and Dumbledore has my whole life planned out; he even has planned who he wants me to marry."

Ginny elbowed Harry and said, "Harry, don't."

Lupin said, "Harry don't what? Ginny, what do you two think you know about Dumbledore?"

Harry and Ginny looked at each other but didn't say anything.

Finally Lupin said, "Harry, I was a good friend of your parents; I'm sure if they knew how you feel, they would want you to talk with an adult, someone that could help you. Please, come to my office and tell me what you think Dumbledore is planning and why you're so upset."

Ginny said, "Harry, maybe it's best to tell him; if we don't explain it, he'll run right to Dumbledore and tell him we know."

Lupin said, "Tell Dumbledore you know what?"

Harry looked at Ginny and said, "I'm sorry, I lost my temper and opened my big mouth."

Lupin said, "Look you two; I was in the dining hall when that Howler went off, I've heard other students and teachers talking about you. What I said about knowing Harry's parents is the truth; all I want is to help my friends' son if I can.

I won't tell Dumbledore anything unless I feel you're getting yourselves in trouble or putting yourselves in danger, that's my duty as a teacher and it's the law. If you can convince me you're not in danger, or getting in trouble, I'll keep whatever you say confidential and try to help if I can."

Ginny said, "Come on Harry, we have to trust him now that he heard what we said; we don't have much choice."

They went to Lupin's office and he made tea first. Then he said, "Alright, start from the beginning, what do you think Dumbledore is planning about you?"

Taking turns, they told him everything they heard, from why Dumbledore placed Harry with the Dursleys, to trying to set him up with Hermione, to Dumbledore's plans to slip them love potions and Birth Control potions. It took over an hour before they finished, the only thing they didn't tell him was about having Tom's memories.

Lupin said, "And you both heard Dumbledore and Snape talking about this plan; and you're sure you heard it clearly, there's no misunderstanding about it."

Harry said, "Yes, we both heard clearly; we were only feet away in the hidden passage behind the tapestry on the third floor."

Lupin said, "It's unbelievable that he would do any of that. First, about him placing you with Petunia, we all knew your parents didn't want that. What did their will say about a guardian for you?"

Harry looked at Lupin and said, "Will? I don't think my parents had a will."

Lupin said, "Sure they did; you father told me so just a month before they were killed. And I know there was a list of guardians because your father told me I was third in line."

Harry yelled, "You were supposed to be my guardian? What didn't you take me? Who else should have taken me?"

Lupin said, "I don't know if I'm the one who should be telling you this Harry; you should have learned all this when you turned eleven. Along with your Hogwarts acceptance letter, you should have got a letter from Gringotts telling your guardian to bring you in to hear your parents will, get you family signet ring, and access to your family vault."

Harry said, "Uncle Vernon tore up my first hundred Hogwarts letters; maybe he tore up the letter from Gringotts. Hagrid went with me to my vault the first time to get money to shop for my school things; maybe he didn't know he should have told me all that. The Goblin with us never mentioned a will."

Lupin said, "Maybe, but like Dumbledore eventually sent Hagrid to give you your Hogwarts letter; the Goblins at Gringotts would have also sent someone in person when you didn't respond to their letter."

Ginny said, "Can Harry still see his parents' will; if it gives the name of a guardian, he wouldn't have to go back to the Dursleys."

Lupin said, "Harry can write a letter to Gringotts and ask why he was never contacted, and he can make an appointment either over Christmas break or next summer to go to the bank. I'm afraid students aren't allowed to leave the school any other time for personal business unless it's a family emergency."

Harry said, "Professor, I don't want to wait until Christmas; can't you tell me why you or the other people on the list didn't take me. Maybe I can write to one of them and convince them to take me."

Lupin said, "This won't be easy for you to hear Harry. The first person your parents named was your godfather Sirius Black."

Harry and Ginny both gasped; Harry said, "Sirius Black, the same Sirius Black that betrayed my parents and wants to kill me. He's my godfather?"

Lupin said, "He was your father's best friend; he was my friend. I can't explain what he did or why; the last time we were together Sirius was still acting like he loved you and your family.

Next on the list was your godmother, Alice Longbottom."

Harry said, "Longbottom, is she related to Neville?"

Lupin said, "Neville's mother, she was your mother's best friend; but you know why she couldn't take you."

Harry said, "No, I don't. I know Neville lives with his grandmother; but he never mentioned his mother or his father; I thought they were killed like my parents."

Lupin said, "If Neville didn't tell you about them, it's not my place to do it. All I can say is Frank and Alice aren't dead; but they can't even care for Neville, much less take you."

Harry said, "You said you were third on the list; why didn't you take me?"

Lupin hesitated quite a while before saying, "I have a medical condition that wouldn't let me take care of a baby. I told that to your father and mother, but they insisted on putting my name third."

Harry asked, "What about now, I'm not a baby anymore. If you're well enough to teach, couldn't you take me now? I promise I won't be any trouble. I can cook and do my own laundry; I'm good at housecleaning and yard work.

Please, I don't want to go back to the Dursleys."

Lupin said, "I understand Harry, but my condition won't allow it. We would have to file guardianship papers with the ministry, and they would never approve it."

Ginny was staring at Lupin as he talked and now said, "You're a Werewolf; it all fits. You missed class the day after the full moon in September and again in October. Harry, you told me when the Boggart in your class got near him, it turned into a silver orb, it became a full moon. And the law says Werewolves aren't allowed to have children; I guess they can't adopt either."

Lupin just looked at them and said nothing. Finally, Harry asked, "Is she right?"

Lupin said, "Yes, but if you tell anyone I'll have to quit; people won't want me near their children."

Harry said, "But you're a good teacher; the best we ever had for DADA."

Ginny said, "You're right Harry, but you don't understand how magical people think about Werewolves. We can't tell anyone Harry; Professor Lupin is right about what would happen."

Harry asked, "Does Dumbledore know?"

Lupin said, "Yes, and all the other teachers. Your father and mother knew to; but they still put me on the list to be your guardian."

Harry said, "Don't worry, we won't let anyone know; not even Ron and Hermione."

Lupin said, "Thank you both. Now back to your situation. Since the first three people on your list of guardians couldn't take you, andI don't know if there were more possible guardians on your parents' list, you'll have to get that information from the will.

As far as what Dumbledore might have done, I've heard bits and pieces of what happened your first and second years Harry; but I'll need to look into this deeper before deciding what I can do.

I'll ask some of the other teachers more about what they know. Don't worry, I won't give away what you said; I just need more facts first before I make up my mind on what to do about Dumbledore and his plan.

Now, is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Ginny said, "Is there a way to stop Dementors from affecting us? You did something on the train to chase that one away; can you teach us to do that?"

Lupin said, "There is a spell called the Patronus charm, but it's much too difficult for a second and third year to do; most adults can't do it."

Ginny asked, "Can't we just try; if we can't do it we won't bother you."

Harry looked to Ginny and said, "Maybe we already know it."

She answered, "No, I've been searching for it since I saw Professor Lupin do it on the train; I couldn't find it."

Harry asked, "I wonder why; I would think it's something he would know."

Lupin interrupted, "Something who would know? And Harry, why do you think you might know an advanced charm?"

Harry didn't want to tell Lupin about Tom's memories, so he lied, "Ginny and I have been, ah, studying ahead; we decided we need to be ready for Voldemort the next time he comes after one of us."

Lupin said, "I can't even try teaching you the Patronus charm until after Christmas; I'm too backed up with papers to correct and the November full moon is coming up.

Why don't you write Gringotts, see what you can learn about your parents will, and maybe go see the Goblins over Christmas. By then, I'll learn more about what Dumbledore has been doing."

On the way back to Gryffindor tower, Harry asked, "Ginny, I wonder why Tom doesn't know this Patronus charm? Is it that advanced that he didn't learn it?"

Ginny answered, "I think he didn't need it. Dementors are the type of creature Tom would like; they're as dark as he is and I wouldn't be surprised if he could control them like he controlled the Basilisk."

Harry said, "Maybe we should look it up in the real library so when Lupin tries to teach it to us, we'll already have some idea how to do it."

Ginny said, "It wouldn't hurt, but I think from what Lupin said, we should concentrate on building our magical power; he made the spell sound really hard and you know we have trouble with our power on difficult spells."

Harry thought about it and said, "Yeah, you're probably right."

That night, after the Halloween feast, the Gryffindors returning to the dorm found the Fat Lady missing and the background of her painting slashed. When she was found hiding in another painting, she told them Sirius Black wanted her to let him into the dorm; after she refused, he attacked her.

Dumbledore had them sleep in the great hall that night while the castle was searched. Harry and Ginny took two of the sleeping bags Dumbledore conjured and went into a corner. Harry started to zip the two bags together so they could share it; but Ginny nodded at her brothers and they settled next to each other in separate bags.

Harry got Ginny to sleep against the wall with him next to her. Then Hermione and Ron, who knew Black was after Harry, and the twins, who knew of Harry and Ginny's nightmares, settled in around them like a guard. Percy, as head boy patrolled all night with the head girl. Black wasn't found and the next morning, things returned to normal.

Two weeks later, the first Quidditch match of the year, Gryffindor against Hufflepuff, was set for tomorrow and Harry was nervous; it was pouring rain and wind gusts were up to sixty MPH. It would make finding the Snitch almost impossible, and even if he could spot it, controlling his broom in the gusts would be iffy.

Ginny was trying to calm Harry, "Diggory will have the same conditions; you're a better flyer than him, you'll find and catch the Snitch."

Harry gave her a smile and said, "Too bad Tom didn't play Quidditch; maybe he would have a spell that would help."

Ginny said, "Forget about Tom for today, all our homework is done, and we have no tests coming up. After the match tomorrow, we can spend all day going over Tom's memories and get ahead enough we won't have to worry about classes until after Christmas break."

The weather the next morning was the same. Before the match even started, both teams were soaked and cold; it only got worse as they flew about trying to play. An hour later, there was no sign of the snitch, two hours passed, then three. Gryffindor was ahead one hundred twenty to one hundred, but if Diggory got the snitch, Hufflepuff would win.

Harry noticed Diggory suddenly move up at high speed; Harry looked and saw the snitch. He followed Diggory, and with his faster broom, soon caught him and passed. Harry was ten feet from the snitch when he felt the cold presence of the Dementors; then he heard the sound of his mother's voice asking Voldemort not to hurt Harry.

The snitch was right there; as he grabbed it, everything went black.

Harry heard a voice say, "I think he's waking up."

He tried to open his eyes but it was too bright; it hurt his head and he closed them again. He heard Ginny's voice say, "Darken the room, the light is bothering him.

Harry, open your eyes; you have a lot of people waiting to talk to you, they're worried about you."

Someone had dimmed the light and this time, Harry kept his eyes open. He looked around and knew he was in the hospital; he asked, "What happened."

Ginny started the story and others chipped in with comments; the summation was, after he caught the snitch, because of the Dementors, he passed out and fell off his broom from over a hundred feet high. Dumbledore cast a spell to slow his fall; but he still got hurt.

Madam Pomfrey came over and said, "Everybody out, I have to examine Mr. Potter."

Everyone left except Ginny. When Madam looked at her, Ginny said, "Remember when I was in here last year and Harry stayed with me; well I'm staying with him."

Madam said, "I suppose that's only fair; but would you wait outside while I examine him?"

Harry said, "It's okay with me if she stays; I won't be embarrassed."

Ginny said, "Don't worry Madam, I have six brothers; I won't see anything I haven't seen before.

Madam said, "If half the rumors the students are spreading about you two are true,I suppose you won't."

Harry said, "None of the rumors are true, Madam; but I still won't mind if Ginny stays."

Madam went, "Humph." Then she pulled down the sheet covering Harry and did several spells over him. She said, "Take off you pajamas; you can leave your knickers on."

Harry looked at Ginny first, then did as Madam asked. He lay back on the bed and Madam felt both of his arms from the fingers up to his shoulders, then both legs from toes to just below his groin. She pressed on his ribs and stomach; pulled his eyelids up and stared into each eye.

She said, "You can put your pajamas back on ; all your injuries are healed, but your eyes still show symptoms from your concussion. I'm keeping you overnight; I think you'll be able to leave tomorrow morning."

Harry sighed and said, "Well, it won't be a total loss; we can use the time to look through memories."

Ginny didn't stay all night; they didn't want to push Madam's kindness in letting her stay for the exam, and for disregarding normal visiting hours. Ginny came back early Sunday, after another exam, Harry was released and they returned to Gryffindor tower. Since the coming week's homework was done, they finished the homework that was due the following week. Then they went over more memories.

Monday at breakfast, an owl landed at Harry's place.

Hermione asked, "Harry, who did you get a letter from? You never get mail."

Harry took the letter and saw it had a Gringotts' symbol on it. He said, "It's from Gringotts."

Hermione asked, "Why would they send you a letter; you do have enough money for school and books, don't you? Open it Harry."

Harry said, "We'll be late for class if we don't get going." Then he whispered to Ginny, "Ginny, it's the answer to the letter I sent last week."

She said, "Don't open it here; wait until we're somewhere private."

After two morning classes, Harry and Ginny met in the room they used for dueling and he opened the letter.

Lord Harry James Potter

As to your enquiry about your parents' will, your magical guardian, Albus Dumbledore, responded to the Gringotts notification on your eleventh birthday.

He informed Gringotts that since he already knew, and could personally tell you the contents of the will, he felt it would be unnecessary and not safe for you to come to Gringotts at that time.

He also informed Gringotts that since, also for reasons of safety, you could not assume the obligations as head of your family at this time; your investiture would have to be postponed until a more convenient time.

If you have any further inquiries, please address them to me, or come to Gringotts in person during normal business hours.

Griphook

Account Manager, Potter Estate

Ginny said, "Harry, we have to show this to Lupin; it's proof that Dumbledore is planning something. You and Lupin assumed that the Dursleys were your guardians and tore up your

Gringotts letter; this shows Dumbledore got the letter and never told you about it.

Lupin said your parents will had a list of guardians and your aunt wasn't on it; Dumbledore didn't let you see the will because he knows how you're treated by your relatives, that you hate it there, but he wants to keep you there."

Harry asked, "What is this investiture thing about; and why is the letter addressed to Lord Potter? I'm I a lord?"

Ginny said, "There are wizard lords; my father told us about them. The Noble Twenty-nine they're called; my father said they should be called the nutter twenty-nine.

They are the old families that originally started the Wizengmort when the Statute of Secrecy was established. The head of each family holds the title Lord, and has a vote in the Wizengmort on new laws and serve as a jury for major trials.

Dad said, five or six of the families died out over the years and most of the others are idiots because, to keep their blood pure, they keep marrying their close relatives. I think that's what's wrong with Crabbe and Goyle."

Harry asked, "How do you know this stuff? We never covered it in History of Magic, unless I slept through that class."

Harry and Ginny learned that History of Magic was a waste of time since Professor Binns, the ghost who taught the course, never taught about anything but the Goblin wars. For his first two years, Harry slept through the class and his grades suffered.

Tom's memories solved that problem since Binns never changed his tests from year to year. The same tests Tom had taken fifty years ago when Binns was still alive were still being given now, and Harry and Ginny knew every answer.

This year, instead of sleeping or paying attention to the old ghost droning on, they were using the time to read about modern history, specifically about the last war against Voldemort. They figured if they had to fight Tom in the future, they should know as much as they could learn about how the last war was fought.

They learned the last war's tactics were not very good; many good witches and wizards were killed and hardly any of Tom's followers were killed or captured. They decided if they were going to defeat Tom, they would have to find a different way to fight.

To answer Harry's question about how she knew about wizard lords, Ginny said, "Family history, the Weasleys are one of the noble families; technically dad should be called Lord Weasley; but he hates when anyone calls him that. Dad said nobody uses the titles except to address each other formally when the Wizengmort is in session.

My great uncle Ignatous held the Prewett family title; but he and his son were killed early in the first war. The title went to his younger brother, my grandfather; but then he died andhis two sons,my mother's brothers, werekilled later during the war.

My mother is the oldest girl in the family, soshe would have become Lady Prewett; but if there's a male heir, he gets the title. So it went toBill; even though his name is William Arthur Weasley, his title is Lord Prewett.

Since he's in Egypt, his seat in the Wizengmort is left empty during meetings and trials. Bill could appoint someone as his proxy; but hasn't bothered to do it.

Maybe the Potters are one of the noble families; I never saw a list of all the names. If your family is one of the noble twenty-nine, and you're the only one left in your family, then you would be Lord Potter. Lupin should know."

Harry said, "Let's eat, I have double Transfiguration after lunch; then we can see Lupin."

Harry and Ginny knocked on Lupin's office door and he said, "Come in.

Harry, Ginny, what can I do for you?"

Harry said, "I wrote to Gringotts like you suggested and this letter came today. I don't understand it all; but it does say a letter was sent to me when I was eleven, that Dumbledore is my magical guardian and never told me; but he did tell the Goblins I couldn't come."

Lupin said, "Can I read it?"

Harry handed it over and they waited for Lupin to read it. Finally Lupin said, "I can't believe he didn't tell you this; you're entitled to know about your family."

Harry asked, "Am I a lord?"

Lupin said, "Yes, of course; you're the last of the Potters. You didn't even know that?"

Harry said, "I know my parents names are James and Lilly and a few other things you and Hagrid told me. I have some pictures of my parents that Hagrid gave me first year; that's all, nothing else about my family."

Lupin said, "I'm sorry Harry; I just assumed Petunia or Dumbledore would have told you these things, they should have. If you're staying at Hogwarts over Christmas, I can tell you more; but I'm too busy right now; I have tests to make up and grade, essays to read, and grades to calculate. And I have to work around the full moon dates to do all that. I promise we will talk when I get time."

Harry asked, "Could you take me to Gringotts over Christmas break?"

Lupin said, "No, sorry but I can't do that. As a teacher I'm not allowed to take students off the grounds; only the headmaster and deputy headmistress can do that."

Ginny asked, "If Harry comes home with me for Christmas; could my mother or father take Harry to Gringotts?"

Lupin said, "According to school rules, if a student has permission to visit friends over the holidays; the adults of the house take responsibility for that student. They could take the student anywhere. But in Harry's case, I wouldn't tell Dumbledore about going to Gringotts; it would be best to just tell him Harry will be staying at the Burrow for Christmas."

Time past quickly with Harry and Ginny busy training; now December was half over. After the Howler in September, Mrs. Weasley calmed down; but Ginny didn't want to give her a reason for not letting Harry come for Christmas, so she asked the twins a favor. She wanted them to ask her parents if Harry could come and say they wanted him there so they could practice Quidditch over the holiday.

The continuous exercise and larger meals allowed Harry to grow another inch and a half and add eight more pounds of muscle; he was still slightly under size and weight for his age, but now almost average. Ginny also grew an inch, but didn't gain weight; instead, her baby fat disappeared and was replaced by muscle distributed in the proper places to cause her figure to look more like she was fifteen rather than twelve and a half.

More importantly, their magical power was growing faster than their bodies. They both could do almost every spell silently with enough power to stun someone, or produce a shield that would hold off a strong stunner.

They finished all their homework due up to the holiday break; and were spending a lot of time transferring Tom's memories to their own. They were up to the second half of Tom's fifth year learning useful spells and facts.

A letter from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave permission for Harry to visit for the holidays. Tomorrow was a Hogsmeade weekend so students could get to town and buy presents for friends and family; but again, neither Harry nor Ginny could go.

Saturday morning, they were going to walk around and do a little snogging, then review memories. They just left the common room when Fred and George stopped them and pulled them into a nearby room.

George started with, "Dear sister and future brother-in-law, …"

Harry sighed and Ginny softly growled.

Fred ignored their irritation and picked up with, "… we decided to let you in on our most important secret."

Harry asked, "What do you want; and why aren't you guys in town?"

George started the answer, "We're going to town soon; …"

And Fred finished with, "… but first we wanted to give you this."

Fred held out a piece of old parchment; Ginny asked, "What is that supposed to be."

George said, "The secret to our success."

Fred tapped the parchment with his wand and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Printing and lines began to appear on the parchment; soon, Harry and Ginny could see it was a map of the castle and grounds. The amazing part was, tiny dots with names next to them appeared and were moving around.

George pointed at a spot with four dots and the names, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Ginevra Weasley, and Harry Potter. He said, "We thought you needed it more than we do."

Fred said, "It shows everyone and we thought you could use it to watch out for Sirius Black."

George added, "It also shows seven secret passages that lead off the grounds to Hogsmeade; …"

Fred finished, "… none of which are guarded by Dementors."

Fred handed it to Harry who began to scan over the many folded pages. Suddenly Harry stopped and said, "Look here at the edge of the forbidden forest."

A dot labeled Sirius Black was moving slowly. Harry said, "Is this right, can he be on the grounds?"

George said, "The map is always right; …"

Fred added, "… he must be there."

Harry said, "We have to tell Dumbledore or another teacher."

Ginny asked, "And what will you tell them when they ask how you know he's there."

Harry said, "I'll show them his name on the map."

Ginny said, "And you think they'll believe the map is real; not some sort of prank."

Harry said, "I'll them what Fred and George said; the map is always right."

Ginny said, "Of course, telling a teacher you got the map from Fred and George will instantly make them believe you."

Harry's mouth opened but no words came out. Finally he said, "You're right, none of the teachers will believe me; but we have to do something, we can't just let him get away."

Fred said, "Let's go and look for him; …"

George continued, "… I bet there's a reward."

Harry said, "He killed thirteen people with one curse; I don't think we should go looking for trouble."

George said, "Twelve of the people he killed were Muggles; …"

Fred went on, "… and were helpless. We have four wands, …"

George continued, "… and you're the one that said, …"

Ginny spoke up and said, "… we can't let him get away."

They hurried down the stair and out the front door. When they got close to the forest, they stopped and checked the map. The dot labeled Sirius Black showed about two hundred meters to their left; they all pulled their wands and slowly walked that way. Harry kept checking the map and constantly turning slightly farther left to follow the moving dot labeled Sirius Black.

They walked around some bushes blocking their view and when they got to the far side of the bushes, they saw a large black dog in a small clearing. It was only five meters away, facing the other direction, and gnawing on what was left of a red deer. Harry looked at the dog, then the map, then the dog again; he pointed his wand at the dog and silently cast a stunner.

Harry' s silent stunner hit the rear end of the dog since it was facing away from him. Instead of being knocked out, the dog stood up and staggered on its rear legs. It was addled enough that it couldn't run, and Ginny was able to hit it with another silent stunner and drop the dog.

She asked, "Why did we just stun a dog?"

They all walked over to where the dog was laying and Harry pointed to the map; their four names and the name Sirius Black were all showing at the same spot.

George said, "He must be an Animagus; and…"

Fred said, "… we caught him, we get the reward."

Ginny said, "We don't have the reward in our pockets and I stunned him; but we already agreed that we won't be able to get Dumbledore or another teacher to come down here. We'll have to get him up to the castle to turn him in to the ministry for the reward?"

George said, "We can carry him."

Fred said, "Blimey, he must be eighty kilos, too heavy for us to use Wingardium and levitate him, and it's a quarter of a mile uphill to the castle, too far to carry him by hand."

Ginny said, "And even if you can carry him; what if he wakes up while you're doing it?"

Harry finally spoke, "I want to talk to him before we turn him over to the ministry."

George asked, "Why the Bloody hell do you have to talk with him now? Let's turn him in to the ministry, get the reward, and then you can talk to him."

Harry said, "The Daily Prophet said the ministry ordered the Dementors to kiss him as soon as he was caught. I have to know why he betrayed my parents; Lupin told me Black was my father's best friend, the best man at my parents wedding, my godfather. I need to find out why he did it."

Fred said, "Harry, we understand how you feel, but to talk to him, we have to wake him; he's tricky, he escaped Azkaban, if we wake him he might escape us."

Ginny said, "Put a full body bind on him first, then wake him. Don't forget when he turns back to a human, we have to search him for a wand."

Georgepointed his wand at the stunned dog and said, "Petrificus totalus."

Fred pointed his wand and said, "Enervate."

The dog's eyes opened and he looked at the four teens.

George said, "Harry wants to talk to you; …"

Fred continued, "… we're going to release the body bindso you can return to human form, …"

George finished, "… but, if you try and run, we'll blast you."

All four teens pointed their wands at the dog, Fred said, "Finite Incantatem."

Suddenly, the dog turned into a thin, pale man with black hair and a sunken face.

The man said, "Harry, I've wanted to talk with you for so long."


	5. Chapter 5 - Justice

Chapter V - Justice

Harry looked at the man and simply asked, "Why?"

Black asked, "Do you mean why did I want to talk to you?"

Harry said, "No, I mean why did you betray my parents?"

Black said, "I didn't; that's why I wanted to tell you for so long. I knew what you would hear about me; but it's not true. It wasn't me; it was Wormtail, he's the traitor."

The four teens all looked shocked; Wormtail was one of the names on the map. They all wondered what the map had to do with Harry and his parents getting attacked by Voldemort.

Harry didn't know what to say or what to ask. Black denying what Harry had been told was too much for Harry's brain to comprehend.

It was Ginny who spoke, "Who's Wormtail? Why should Harry believe what you say when you were found guilty by the ministry?"

Black said, "You three gingers, you're Weasleys aren't you."

George said, "Yeah, we're Weasleys; what's that to you?"

Black said, "Then it's your fault; you're the ones who are putting Harry in danger."

Harry's brain finally caught up with what was being said and he spoke, "You're barmy, the Weasley's are my friends; they would never put me in danger."

Black said, "I saw the picture of them with Wormtail; they've been helping the one who betrayed your parents, they're keeping him safe."

Fred said, "He is barmy Harry. You've known us for more than two years; you stayed at the Burrow. You know we would never put you in danger."

Ginny said, "You never answered my questions; who's this Wormtail, and why should Harry believe what you say when you were found guilty by the ministry?"

Black said, "Wormtail's real name is Peter Pettigrew; he was our friend when we were students."

Harry said, "You killed Pettigrew and a dozen Muggles too."

Black said, "No, I didn't; Peter killed the Muggles and faked his own death. He cut off his finger and ran away leaving me to take the blame for the Muggles' murders.

Listen Harry, your father, me, Peter, and a boy named Remus were roommates and became close friends. Three of us learned how to be Animagi; as you saw, I become a dog, your father became a stag, and Peter becomes a rat.

We all had nicknames, as a dog, they called me Padfoot, your father's stag was Prongs, and the rat is Wormtail."

The four teens' minds went to the names on the map again.

Fred asked, "What about the fourth boy, Remus?"

Ginny said, "That's Professor Lupin; he isn't an Animagus, but I bet you called him Moony."

Black looked at Ginny and asked, "How do you know Moony? Why did you say Professor Lupin? Is Remus here at the school?"

Harry pulled the map from his pocket and said, "Yes, Professor Lupin teaches DADA; and this is how we know the names. The map is how we knew you were here in the forest."

Black said, "You have the Marauders' Map; good, good, look for Peter's name. Just like my real name showed even though I was in Padfoot's form; Peter's real name will show even though he's in Wormtail's form."

Harry said, "Fred, George, you two keep your wands on him; if he moves, stun him again. Ginny, help me search the map for Peter Pettigrew.

Harry flipped through the many folded pages of the map until Ginny yelled, "There Harry, look Peter Pettigrew; he's there in the castle."

Harry checked the map and said, "That's my dorm room; he's in my room."

Black said, "He's been there all year in his rat form; I tried to get to him on Halloween, but couldn't get in."

George said, "Oh, for Godric's sake; he's Scabbers; that's why Black said …"

Fred realized it to and continued, "… we're helping him; Percy and Ron have been …"

Ginny picked up with the twins, "… taking care of Scabbers, I mean Wormtail, I mean Peter Pettigrew for twelve years."

Harry finished with, "But they didn't know; nobody knew Scabbers wasn't really a rat."

Black said, "None of that matters now. What does matter is you have to let me go so I can kill him."

Harry said, "No, if you kill him, nobody will ever know the truth. We have to catch him and make him tell the truth; then I want to see him given to the Dementors for what he did."

Black said, "It's too dangerous for you to try and catch him; Harry, if he figures out what you're planning, he'll try and escape. He'll kill you and anyone else that is in his way."

Fred said, "He won't figure it out; he's used to us handling him for the past twelve years."

George said, "We can put an unbreakable charm on his cage and take him to Dumbledore; he'll know how to handle him safely."

Harry said, "Ginny and I don't trust Dumbledore; McGonagall should be there to so Dumbledore can't do some dirty trick."

Black looked astonished and asked, "Harry, why don't you trust Dumbledore?"

Harry said, "We have a reason, actually a couple of reasons. You're my godfather and if all this is true I'll tell you why eventually; but explaining everything will have to wait until we catch Wormtail.

Ginny said, "Harry, do you believe Black is innocent? Do you trust him now?"

Harry said, "I'm not sure, the ministry found him guilty; but the ministry also said Pettigrew is dead."

Black said, "I was never found guilty; I never got a trial, they just threw me into Azkaban."

Ginny said, "That horrible. And don't forget Harry, Black said Pettigrew faked his death; and we can see that Pettigrew is alive, alive and hiding as a rat for twelve years. Why would an innocent man stay in the form of a rat for twelve years?"

Harry said, "You're right, Black's story makes sense; but we have to catch and question Pettigrew to really learn the truth.

Ginny, would you stay here and guard Black, don't let him leave until we have a chance to catch Pettigrew and hand him over to Dumbledore. I'll come back for you once we're done."

Fred said, "Harry, we can't leave Ginny alone to guard him; he may not be telling the truth and could be dangerous."

Harry said, "Don't worry about Ginny; worry about Black if he tries anything. Remember her curse that gave you those sores; that was one of the kinder ones she knows."

Ginny said, "Sure, I'll be fine Harry, if he tries to move I have a dozen curses I can use; he'll wish the Dementors had him."

Black was looking back and forth between Harry and Ginny as they said all that; he said, "Maybe there's something I don't understand here; why do you think a little girl can hold me prisoner? Not that I intend to run; I promise I'm not going to try anything. I want to see justice for Peter as much as you do Harry."

Harry said, "We'll explain later; but believe me, don't test Ginny."

Ginny sat on a tree stump and waved her wand for Black to sit on the ground in the center of the clearing. Harry, Fred, and George headed up to Harry's dorm room. On the way, they worked out a strategy.

When they reached the common room, Harry checked the map to be sure Pettigrew was still in Ron's bunk; he was, and Harry put the map away. They knew it was lucky the twins never showed Ron the map back at the Burrow; if Pettigrew saw it, he'd know it would show his real name.

As they walked into the dorm room, Fred said, "Harry, get your broom and we'll go fly a bit until Ron and Hermione get back from Hogsmeade."

Harry said, "Let me get it." To distract Pettigrew, he went to his trunk.

George wandered over by Ron's bed with his wand hidden by his side; suddenly he stunned Scabbers. They cast the unbreakable charm on Scabbers' cage, put the rat inside, and did a locking charm on the cage door.

Harry said, "Its meal time, McGonagall and Dumbledore will probably be in the great hall; let's take him there."

All the teachers were at the main table when Harry, Fred, and George walked up to Dumbledore. Harry held the caged rat up and said, "Headmaster, we need to speak with you and Professor McGonagall in private; it's very important."

Snape said, "Potter, only you and these two would think it is a funny prank to bring a filthy rat where people are eating. Take that disgusting thing out of here."

Harry stared at Snape and said, "I intend to sir; as soon as Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster come with us."

Dumbledore knew something was wrong; Harry wouldn't prank teachers, the Weasley twins yes, but not Harry.

Dumbledore said, "Let's go to my office where we can talk in private."

Harry caught sight of Professor Lupin, he was staring at the rat in the cage, and Harry decided he should be included. Harry said, "I think Professor Lupin knows what I want; I would like him to come to."

Dumbledore said, "Remus, please come with us."

Black said, "Your name's Ginny, right?

She said, "Ginny Weasley, what's it to you."

He said, "There hasn't been a girl in the Weasley family for generations; your parents must be very happy."

Ginny said, "They were; recently they've been pretty upset by rumors about my relationship with Harry."

Black said, "Don't they like Harry? You're both a little young to be a couple; is that why your parents are upset?"

Ginny answered, "Yes, we aren't doing anything wrong; but because we're always together, people assume we are and rumors spread."

Black asked, "If you and Harry aren't doing anything wrong; then you're not responsible for what other people say."

Ginny said, "No, but I think my parents believe the rumors. They say they understand; but I know they really don't.

Why do you care about what Harry and I did or didn't do?"

He said, "You're close to Harry; in just the few minutes he was here I could see he fancies you. Harry's my godson, the son of my best friend. I don't want to see him get mixed up in some type of trouble."

Ginny said, "Harry saved my life a few months ago, I would never do anything to hurt him or cause him trouble."

Black said, "You fancy him to, don't you? You two are pretty young for that sort of thing; that in itself can cause unintended trouble."

Ginny said, "There's a lot more to it than you can possibly understand."

Black said, "We have time, why don't you explain it to me?"

Ginny said, "Harry said he will if what you said about Wormtail is true."

Black started to stand up; Ginny pointed her wand at a nearby stump and silently blasted it to splinters. She said, "You should just sit still and wait for Harry to return; unless you want to end up like that stump."

Sirius looked at the stump, then at the five foot one inch, ninety pound, twelve-year-old girl; he sat back on the grass. He said, "You're a lot like Lilly, Harry's mother; she was a powerful witch too."

When they arrived at Dumbledore's office, he conjured five chairs for the teens, McGonagall, and Lupin. Dumbledore said, "Please sit and explain what is so important. I presume it concerns the rat, or you wouldn't be holding it out so prominently."

Harry said, "He's not a rat sir, he's an Animagus named Peter Pettigrew."

Lupin only nodded silently; but Dumbledore and McGonagall looked startled. Dumbledore stood up and said, "That's impossible Mr. Potter; Pettigrew was killed twelve years ago."

Harry said, "No sir, Pettigrew faked his death and has been hiding as a rat since then.

There is a spell to force an Animagus to return to his human form so it will be easy to prove it's true."

Dumbledore asked, "As a third year, how do you know about Animagi and this spell? And if you know it, why haven't you used it? Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley, how are you involved with this."

They had an answer ready, George said, "Harry discovered about the rat Animagus this morning; and …"

Fred said, "… everyone but little firsties and second years were in town except us."

Harry said, "I needed help, I didn't want to force Pettigrew into his human form and face him alone. I wasn't positive I was right, and I didn't want to bother teachers until I was sure. So I asked Fred and George to help me. We stunned him and checked; he's missing a front toe; the same as the finger the ministry found at the place Pettigrew was supposedly killed.

We wanted you with us so he won't escape when I make him return to human form.

Fred, take him out of the cage."

George said, "Stun him again to be safe Fred; we can't be too careful. If he's awake, he'll run as soon as you take him out."

Suddenly the rat jumped up and began trying to escape; he had woke, was faking still being stunned, and was listening. Fred stunned him again, took him out, and laid him on the floor.

Harry pointed his wand and said, "Homorphus."

The rat's body grew and reshaped into a small man with a pointy nose and tiny squinty eyes; he still looked very much like a rat.

McGonagall asked, "Albus I recognize him, he was in Gryffindor; that is Peter Pettigrew?"

Dumbledore walked around his desk staring at the man; he cast a spell over the man and said, "Unbelievable, Peter Pettigrew alive. My spell will prevent him from transforming back to a rat while I notify the Minister of Magic and the Auror's office."

Harry asked, "Can we question him first Headmaster; I need to find out what he had to do with my parents' murder. If the ministry takes him away, I may never learn the truth."

Dumbledore said, "What is it you suspect Mr. Potter?"

Harry said, "Well sir, the ministry said Sirius Black betrayed my parents and killed Pettigrew. Obviously, they were wrong about Black killing Pettigrew; maybe they're wrong about Black betraying my parents.

I want to know the truth; and I don't trust the ministry. After what Minister Fudge did to Hagrid last year, sending him to Azkaban for no reason, how can I trust him not to cover up another ministry mistake?"

Dumbledore stroked his beard, then said, "Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to question Pettigrew before calling the ministry."

Dumbledore grabbed a quill and wrote a note; he handed it to Fred and said, "Would you two be kind enough to deliver this to Professor Snape."

The twins looked at Dumbledore and he said, "You're curious because the rat lived in your house for twelve years. Since you've been helping Harry, you may return to hear what Pettigrew has to say."

Fifteen minutes later, Fred and George were back, then Snape arrived minutes later. Snape stopped and stared at the man lying on the floor; he held out a small vile and said, "Headmaster, the Veritas serum you requested."

Dumbledore said, "Tie him, give him three drops, and wake him."

When Snape finished, Pettigrew stirred and looked at everyone standing around him.

Dumbledore asked, "What's your name?"

He answered, "Peter Pettigrew."

Harry asked, "Who betrayed my parents to Voldemort?"

Pettigrew winced at the name, but said, "I did."

Lupin said, "Why?"

Pettigrew said, "I wanted to be in his good favor once he ruled all the magical world. You don't understand, nobody could stand against him; he would have killed me if I didn't tell him the secret."

McGonagall said, "Tell him the secret; what do you mean."

Before Pettigrew could answer, Harry asked, "Who was the secret keeper for my parents?"

Pettigrew said, "I was; Sirius pretended to be secret keeper as a decoy, James and Lilly never told anyone they used me instead."

Snape looked angry, Dumbledore and McGonagall looked flustered, and Dumbledore said, "Then Black is innocent; he didn't betray James and Lilly."

McGonagall said, "But what about the Muggles that were killed?"

Harry said, "You killed them; didn't you Wormtail? You killed them, cut off your own finger, and left Sirius Black to take the blame."

Pettigrew said, "Yes, Sirius was the only one that knew I was the secret keeper; I couldn't kill him, he's stronger than me, better at dueling. I had to discredit him."

Dumbledore asked, "Why did you hide for all these years?"

Pettigrew said, "The Dark Lord's followers blamed me for his disappearance; they though I led him into a trap and they wanted to kill me. I found a Wizarding family to hide with so I could eavesdrop on what was happening in the magical world until it was safe for me to return to human form.

I learned his Death Eaters were still after me, so I remained in hiding. Then one day, the boy taking care of me met Harry Potter and I decided to wait until I knew what would happen. If the Dark Lord returned as was rumored he would; I could hand Potter over and get back in his favor."

Dumbledore said, "Harry, are you satisfied now; shall I call the ministry?"

Harry said, "It there anyone at the ministry you can trust? Someone high enough in power to prevent Fudge from sweeping this all under the rug so he can save face."

Dumbledore said, "Yes, Amelia Bones, she's the head of Magical Law Enforcement and scrupulously honest. I'll ask her to come with the minister and a couple of Aurors."

Dumbledore made the flue call and half an hour later, Fudge, Madam Bones, and two Aurors were in Dumbledore's office staring at Pettigrew. Dumbledore explained what happened and Fudge said, "We'll take care of this; you Aurors, take him to a holding cell at the ministry for questioning."

Harry said, "Pettigrew is an unregistered Animagus, a rat; he'll need special wards on his cell to prevent him from transforming."

Fudge said, "The ministry knows how to guard prisoners Mr. Potter. We don't need a thirteen-year-old giving us advice."

Harry said, "That man betrayed my parents to Voldemort and the ministry let him roam free for twelve years. The ministry also imprisoned an innocent man, my godfather Sirius Black, in Azkaban for twelve years without a trial. I think the ministry is very much in need of advice."

Snape said, "You impudent boy; how dare you speak to the Minister of Magic like that."

Fudge was bright red and said, "Dumbledore, is this how you teach your students to respect authority."

Before Dumbledore could answer, Harry said, "I respect people that earn my respect minister. When I see in the paper tomorrow that Pettigrew was captured, that he confessed, and that Sirius Black will be given a fair trial, then I'll respect you."

The minister said, "I will not be pressured by a little boy. As Minister of Magic, I will do what I think is best."

Harry said, "Then I will contact the Daily Prophet and give them the story myself. I think they'll listen to what Harry Potter has to say."

Dumbledore said, "Harry, as Headmaster I cannot allow students to give interviews to the press without my approval."

McGonagall said, "Then I'll contact the Prophet and give them the story; the public has the right to know the truth."

Lupin said, "I'll go with you Minerva, James and Lilly were my friends; I won't let the ministry bury the truth."

Fudge was livid, he stuttered, but couldn't say anything.

Madam Bones said, "I will personally see to the wards around Pettigrew's cell; and that the story reaches the Daily Prophet. There will be no cover up Mr. Potter.

Albus, as the head of MLE, I'm requesting that you, as Head of the Wizengmort, call an emergency trial no later than the end of this week; I want it done before Christmas."

Dumbledore said, "I will send notices out today Amelia."

Everyone left the office, when they reached the hall, both McGonagall and Lupin said at the same time, "Harry, you will come to my office and explain this."

Lupin said, "Sorry Minerva, I don't mean to interrupt you, perhaps we can all go to your office so Harry only has to explain once."

McGonagall said, "I understand your interest Remus; you Weasleys are free to return to your common room."

Harry said, "Guys, could you go out and tell Ginny what happened with Wormtail and that she should come to Professor McGonagall's office and bring Padfoot."

As the twins left, Lupin asked, "Harry, have you met Padfoot? Do you know where he is?"

McGonagall asked, "Who is this Padfoot?"

Harry said, "You'll meet him in a few minutes; Ginny has been keeping him company while we took care of Wormtail."

Lupin said, "Harry, you shouldn't …"

Harry interrupted, "Sorry Professor, but can't we wait until we're in Professor McGonagall's office to talk; the walls in Hogwarts have ears, at least the pictures on the walls do. I have to tell you things I don't want Headmaster Dumbledore to know."

It took twenty minutes for Ginny to arrive with Padfoot. When they came into the office, Lupin smiled and said, "Padfoot old friend."

McGonagall said, "Miss Weasley, where did you find a dog? Were you off the school grounds?"

Harry said, "Professor McGonagall, I think you know Padfoot better as Sirius Black."

As Harry spoke, Padfoot transformed into Sirius.

McGonagall stood and said, "Sirius Black, I found it hard to believe you would betray James and Lilly; I'm glad the truth has finally come out.

Mr. Potter, how did you meet Mr. Black?"

Sirius said, "I wish all of you would just call me Sirius; Mr. Black gives me bad memories of my father."

Harry didn't want to tell McGonagall about the map; he was sure she would confiscate it. He said, "Fred and George learned about a bit of magic that Professor Lupin, Mr. B…, Sirius, and my father originally did when they were students. It allows you to see where anyone is in the castle or on the grounds.

They showed it to me because they though Sirius was trying to kill me and I could be on the lookout for him. When I tried it, we saw he was on the grounds near the forest. We decided to capture him; I wanted to ask why he betrayed my parents."

McGonagall said, "That was a very dangerous thing to do; you should have come to me or another teacher."

Harry said, "After you refused to believe Ginny and I were innocent back in the beginning of the year, we didn't think you or any other teacher would believe us; that we could know where someone was out on the grounds. Besides, you know Ginny and I have been training for this kind of encounter for months; and the twins know a lot of spells to."

Lupin asked, "What now; what can Sirius do?"

Harry said, "He, we, have to wait and see if the ministry does what I asked."

Lupin said, "Sirius, Harry asked the minister to acknowledge in the paper, that Wormtail was found alive, and it was he who betrayed James and Lilly. If they do it, you can ask for a trial and be free."

Harry said, "Tomorrow we will see; Madam Bones promised to see nothing would be kept secret."

Lupin said, "Minerva, Sirius could stay hidden in my quarters until we find out its safe for him to turn himself in. If the news is in the paper tomorrow, I'll contact Madam Bones and make arrangements with her to keep Sirius safe until he can have a trial."

McGonagall said, "I see no problem with that as long as Sirius stays hidden from the students. I'll let Albus know."

Harry yelled, "Please no. We don't trust the Headmaster; couldn't we just not tell him for a few days?"

McGonagall asked, "Mr. Potter, why would you not trust the Headmaster?"

Ginny said, "Back in September, if you remember the day I hexed my brothers with the sores, Harry and I overheard Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape talking about us. We didn't like what they said."

Lupin said, "They told me about it Minerva; I checked into things and I'm not happy with what I found. I can't tell you more right now, other than that Dumbledore made some bad decisions about the way Harry was treated. I'm still checking into it."

McGonagall said, "I know about the situation with the Dursleys. Are there other things?"

Lupin said, "Yes, lots of things."

McGonagall said, "Very well, I will not inform the Headmaster of Sirius' presence until Madam Bones acts."

After Hermione and Ron returned from Hogsmeade, Harry and Ginny met with them and the twins to tell them the story of meeting Sirius, capturing Pettigrew, and all that happened after.

Ron was furious about Scabbers being an Animagus until Fred and George convinced him they could blame it all on Percy; he was the person that originally found Scabbers and brought him to the Burrow. They told Ron he might even get their parents to buy him an owl to make up for losing Scabbers.

Harry and Ginny then met with Lupin and Sirius for hours that night. Lupin already knew the story about Dumbledore; but they brought Sirius up to date on all they knew about what they overheard.

The next morning, in the dining hall, an owl dropped to Harry's place with a letter and a copy of the Daily Prophet. The letter was from Madam Bones; all it said was, "Cornelius is furious; but I always keep my promises."

The entire front page of the paper was filled by one article. On one side, there was a picture of Pettigrew, which looked like it was taken in a holding cell yesterday, on the other side, an old picture of Sirius, above the pictures, the headline read:

Peter Pettigrew Found Alive

Allegedly confesses to betraying Potters

Is Azkaban escapee Sirius Black Innocent?

Harry saw Lupin was reading a copy of the paper; hopefully he would contact Madam Bones during the day to arrange for Sirius to be tried. Harry thought he should wait to talk with them again tonight.

Madam Bones came to Lupin's quarters the next day to get a statement from Sirius. With that and Pettigrew's confession, she agreed to let Sirius stay with Lupin at Hogwarts since Pettigrew's trial would take up the time before Christmas, and a trial for Sirius couldn't be arranged until after Christmas.

Pettigrew's trial lasted one day; the Wizengmort ordered he be given Veritas serum and he basically confessed the same as he did in Dumbledore's office. He was sentenced to life in Azkaban.

Christmas break started and Harry went to the Burrow with the Weasleys. He had already arranged to meet with Griphook the next day; Ginny and Mrs. Weasley went with him.

Before he left the school, Lupin and Sirius told him about what he had to do at Gringotts. Last night, Mr. Weasley told Harry about Goblin customs and greetings; so when they got to the front desk, Harry said, "May your vault overflow with gold. I'm Harry Potter; I have an appointment to meet my account manager, Griphook."

The Goblin said, "May all your ventures be profitable Lord Potter. Please follow me."

He led them to a meeting room and said, "Please be seated; I will inform Griphook that you are here."

As Griphook entered the room, Harry recognized him as the Goblin that he met the day Hagrid first brought him to Gringotts when Harry was eleven.

Griphook said, "Lord Potter, may our association lead to much gold for both of us."

Harry said, "Griphook, may gold fill both our vaults.

This is my friend Ginny Weasley and her mother Molly Weasley; you may speak freely in front of them.

A few months ago, I learned I should have come to Gringotts on my eleventh birthday to do a number of things. My magical guardian, Headmaster Dumbledore never informed me of that; or of any family affairs such as my parents will. I would like to hear the will and go over my financial affairs now."

Griphook said, "I assumed from your letter that was why you were here and I have prepared everything you will need to learn.

First, you parents' wills."

Griphook unfolded two copies, he gave Harry one and said, "Since you magical guardian is not present, this is not a formal reading. I will leave out all the 'being of sound mind, not under any magical influences, and other legal wording' if you agree. We have a large amount of business to take care of today, and we can save time by just looking at one will. You of course can request we read both formally."

Harry said, "No, since I'm getting copies, I can go over them later if I need to. I'm most interested in who my parents named as my guardians."

Griphook said, "The first few pages are your father's will, the later pages your mother's. Other than your father leaving everything to your mother if he died first, and you mother leaving everything to you father if she died first, the rest of the two wills are identical.

I will read it, but you can follow long and keep that copy for future reference."

First, from the third paragraph of your mother's will, "If both James and I should die concurrently, I name the following list of guardians for my son, Harry. First, his godfather Sirius Black, if Sirius cannot care for Harry, my second choice is Harry's godmother Alice Longbottom. If Alice cannot take Harry, the following preferences are in order, Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, Amelia Bones, Molly Weasley.

Under no circumstances is Harry to be left with my sister Petunia. She and her husband hate me and all magic and would not treat Harry kindly."

Griphook said, "The next paragraph concern the allotment to your guardian for your care, it amounts to ten Galleons per month."

Harry stopped Griphook and asked, "Even though I've been in the magical world for over two years and took money from my vault to buy robes, books, and other school things; I still think in Muggle pounds. How much is ten Galleons in Muggle money?"

Griphook said, "The Muggle equivalent changes with the price of gold; as of today, one ounce of gold is worth £1010.72. A Galleon contains one tenth of an ounce of gold, so today ten Galleons are worth £1010.72. But that varied greatly over the past twelve years."

Harry said, "Was the money paid to anyone?"

Griphook looked through several papers and said, "The ten Galleons equivalent in Muggle money was deposited every month since November1981 into a Muggle bank account under the name Vernon Dursley."

Harry asked, "Why, they never spent a pence on me; all I got from them was my cousin's hand-me-down clothes and barely enough food to stay alive."

Griphook said, "The will allotted ten Galleons a month to your guardian; the charges were authorized by your magical guardian, Albus Dumbledore."

Harry asked, "Is that money still being paid every month?"

Griphook said, "As of this month, yes. The next deposit will be January 1st."

Harry asked, "Can I stop it; I don't want to give them any more money. Since I started school, I'm only at the Dursleys for two months in the summer anyway."

Griphook said, "You are underage, you cannot order financial changes; only your magical guardian can do that."

Ginny spoke up and said, "And Dumbledore is you magical guardian; he'll never stop payment. He wants you to go back to the Dursleys in June and he knows they wouldn't take you if they weren't paid."

Harry asked, "Griphook, what do I have to do to get my magical guardian changed?"

Griphook said, "You need to petition the Ministry of Magic. They will demand a valid reason to hold a hearing."

Harry said, "My parents will says I am not to be placed with Aunt Petunia; and Dumbledore is not on the list of possible guardians. How did he get to be my magical guardian?"

Griphook again looked through several papers before saying, "These copies Gringotts have are not the official basis of action; it seems the official copy of your parents' will was filed at the Ministry of Magic, then sealed and never probated."

Molly asked, "Why, how could that happen; ignoring a will?"

Griphook continued looking through papers and finally said, "It was ordered by the Chief Mugwump of the Wizengmort."

Ginny said, "And I bet that's Dumbledore."

Griphook said, "Yes."

Harry said, "I'm going to see Madam Bones about this; she's on my list of guardians, is the head of MLE, and she seems to be fair."

Molly said, "You should tell Professor McGonagall to; she's listed as a possible guardian. I'll tell Arthur since I'm on that list too; maybe we can do something."

Ginny said, "You should tell Sirius and Lupin too."

Harry said, "I'll tell all of them; this is ridiculous and has to stop.

Griphook, what else do we have to do today. Can we cut things short so I can contact the necessary people today?"

Griphook said, "You must receive your signet ring and be formally invested as Duke of Hutton. Then I must give you at least a cursory review of your financial holdings."

Harry said, "Let's do only what's necessary. I'll come back another day to do the rest."

Griphook produced a large gold ring with an intricately carved crest in the center and an emerald set on each side; also an illuminated parchment. He said, "You and I and a witness must sign in blood."

He gave Harry a golden pen; Harry signed the top line. As he did, he felt a sharp sting on his hand, and the pen wrote his name in his own blood. Griphook signed the second line, and Harry asked Ginny rather than Molly to sign the witness line; she did without hesitation over her blood being used as the ink.

Griphook stood and told Harry to stand. When he did, Griphook said, "By the power given me as Gringotts' representative of the Potter family, I invest you as Harry James Potter, Duke of Hutton."

He slid the ring onto Harry's finger, turned to Molly and Ginny, and said, "You may stand and curtsy to Lord Potter."

Molly stood and did quite a respectable curtsy; but Ginny said, "I'd rather snog Lord Potter." Before Molly or Griphook could stop her, she ran over to Harry, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him."

Molly yelled, "Ginevra Weasley, stop that; it's not proper, and besides, you are only twelve years old."

Ginny broke off the kiss and said, "Mother, we'll really have to talk when we get home."

Griphook showed a mouthful of sharp teeth, Harry thought it was a smile, because Griphook didn't seem angry. He simple said, "Now that the investiture is over, I must give the financial report.

Lord Potter, your trust vault has 10,274 Galleons remaining. The Potter family vault has 220,675 Galleons. Stocks and bonds held by the Potter family were this morning valued at 1,035,981 Galleons.

Properties owned by the Potter family were valued at 21,360,912 Galleons as of their last appraisal fifteen years ago. That was when your grandmother died and the estate went to your father; the values have most likely risen since then.

Jewels, Art work, books, and other items in the vault were last appraised for your grandfather at 41,290,476 Galleons but that was twenty years ago; their current value is unknown but undoubtedly substantially higher."

Molly always knew the Potter family was wealthy, but she never knew the extent of Harry's wealth; neither did Ginny; but then again, neither did Harry.

He said, "Those numbers can't be right; nobody has that much money."

Griphook said, "I assure you Lord Potter, the numbers are correct. As the last of the Potter line, you are one of the wealthiest people in Great Britain, magical or Muggle."

Harry said, "Well the money is not important; what is important is that I get a new magical guardian."

Ginny and Molly couldn't believe Harry said that, 'Well the money is not important'; they couldn't believe that someone so rich really didn't care about it and could be so normal.

Griphook asked, "Do you wish me to have the real estate, jewelry, and artwork reappraised?"

Harry said, "Maybe in the future, I don't need to know that right now."

Harry was upset about the Dursleys getting paid while they abused him. He finished, "Thank you for your help Griphook; I'll come back when I have time for a more thorough look at my holdings. Now I'd like to go to the ministry to see Madam Bones. That is if you'll take me there Mrs. Weasley."

Molly said, "You don't just drop by the ministry to see someone like Madam Bones, Harry. Even Arthur can't just walk into her office and say he wants to see her. We need to go home; I'll flue call Arthur, and have him arrange an appointment."

Harry realized she was right and they returned to the Burrow.


	6. Chapter 6 - A New Life

Chapter VI – A New Life

Molly flue called Arthur and explained what happened at Gringotts. He walked to Madam Bones' office and gave a note to her secretary saying Harry Potter wanted to talk to Madam and asked for an appointment as soon as possible.

To Arthur's surprise, before he left for home, Madam Bones walked into his office. She said, "Arthur, what's this note about Harry Potter? How are you associated with him? Does he want to see me about; Pettigrew, or Black?"

Arthur said, "Harry is friends with four of my children; he's staying with us at the Burrow over Christmas break. He asked Molly to take him to Gringotts today about something to do with his account there. It seems Dumbledore never told Harry about his family position as Duke Potter. Harry didn't know of his family vault and never knew his parents had a will designating guardians for Harry. Molly said Harry is quite upset."

Madam said, "Dumbledore again; I remember right after James and Lilly were killed, Dumbledore made a big fuss about where Harry would live."

Arthur said, "My children told us that Harry's relatives treat him like a house elf; he does all the work like cleaning, gardening, and even cooking. I'm also told they punish Harry by withholding meals and locking him in his room. Harry refuses to tell anyone more details."

Madam asked, "Would Molly mind if I came to your home today? Since I began looking into how Harry is involved with Pettigrew and Black, I've been finding all sorts of irregularities about Harry's life."

Arthur said, "I'm sure Molly won't mind; she gave me the impression that she wanted this issue about Harry resolved as soon as possible."

Arthur sent a message to Molly with his Patronus to let her know he and Madam Bones would be there shortly. He asked her to have Harry there to talk with Madam.

When they arrived at the Burrow, they found Molly, Harry, and Ginny at the kitchen table. Molly made tea and when everyone was settled, Madam asked, "Now Harry, tell me what you wanted to see me about."

Harry related what he learned at Gringotts with Molly and Ginny adding details. When he finished Madam Bones said, "I can't believe how arrogant Dumbledore is; circumventing the law to control your life."

Harry said, "There's more, even worse than this; but it doesn't matter right now. Getting a new magical guardian before I have to return to the Dursleys this summer is my biggest problem."

Madam said, "The only way to do that is to have your parents' will probated. The problem is, to do that, a petition will have to be made by someone on the Wizengmort and a second made. The petition can be blocked if someone objects and the majority votes to uphold the objection."

Arthur said, "I will make the motion; but who can we get to second it?"

Madam said, "I can't because I'm the head of MLE; and will be on the bench. But even if we get a second, Dumbledore will oppose it and most members will automatically vote with him."

Arthur said, "If Harry could speak to the court and explain what happened like he just did for you, perhaps he could sway a majority in his favor. There are thirty-seven seats, the twenty-two still living noble families, and the fifteen elected members added during the reforms a hundred years ago. All we need is nineteen votes."

Madam said, "The Potter family seat, the Black family seat, and the Prewett family seat are vacant, so there are only thirty-four voting members; that means we need eighteen, one more than half. But it doesn't matter, I can get Harry into the session as an observer; but observers aren't allowed to speak, only people holding seats. We would have to get his petition approved before he could talk as a witness to the petition."

Harry said, "When we were talking one night, Sirius explained to me how the Wizengmort works; I have an idea."

Christmas break ended, Harry and Ginny returned to school. The second day back, Madam Bones came to get Sirius. His trial was set for two days from now and he would have to be held at the ministry so all required pretrial procedures could occur.

The day of the trial arrived, the Wizengmort members were seated, as Head Mugwump, Dumbledore was presiding with Madam Bones as head of MLE and Fudge as Minister of Magic filling out the three-judge bench.

Just before Sirius was to be brought in, Harry and Ginny entered the witness box accompanied by Molly, Professor Lupin, and Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore hammered the gavel and when everyone got quiet, Dumbledore said, "Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, though I know you are interested in this case, I did not give you permission to leave the school."

Professor McGonagall stood and said, "Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley received subpoenas to appear as witnesses after you left the school Headmaster. As Deputy-Headmistress, I gave them permission and accompanied them for safety reasons."

Dumbledore looked upset, but said nothing.

Sirius was brought in and placed in the dock. Dumbledore banged his gavel again and the trial started. Sirius asked to be questioned under Veritas serum, and an Auror administered it.

Sirius testified that James made Pettigrew the secret keeper instead of him. He told of arriving at the Potter house to find his friends dead and Hagrid holding Harry. He described chasing Pettigrew and how Peter casting a blasting curse that hit a Muggle gas line under the street killing the twelve Muggles nearby.

Harry was called and testified, without mentioning the Marauder's map, that he saw Sirius on the Hogwarts grounds; and, with the help of Ginny and the twins, captured Sirius. Harry related that Sirius told them about Pettigrew, and how they then caught Pettigrew.

Ginny was called and confirmed Harry's story.

The trial only went for three hours and Sirius was found not guilty. The court voted to award Sirius one thousand Galleons for each year he was unjustly imprisoned.

Dumbledore banged his gavel and said, "Unless a member has urgent business, this session of the Wizengmort will stand adjourned."

Sirius stood and said, "Your honor, I wish to take my seat as head of the Black family."

Dumbledore looked at Sirius, hesitated, but couldn't think of a reason to deny the request. He said, "If there are no objections, Sirius Black, who has previously been recognized as head of the Black family, may take his seat."

There were no objections and Sirius walked over to his court seat.

Dumbledore asked, "Is there any further business?"

Harry stood and said, "Your honor, I wish to take my seat as head of the Potter family."

Dumbledore seemed very upset that Harry knew he was head of the Potter family and wondered how he had discovered he was entitled to a seat on the Wizengmort. He looked at Harry and decided to try and bluff Harry out of his rightful seat. He said, "Mr. Potter, you are underage and not entitled by law to hold a seat on the court."

Harry held up his right hand with the signet ring and said, "Your honor, I am head of the Potter family, and I know I cannot take my seat; but I can name a proxy to vote in my place. I name Molly Weasley as my proxy."

Dumbledore thought to himself for a moment, "So Molly, and I must assume Arthur and Sirius too, are helping Harry; that's how he knows about his title and right to a seat." Dumbledore realized he needed a new idea on how to stop Harry, and needed it quickly.

He said, "The court has no proof that you have formally been recognized as head of the Potter family; therefore, the court denies your request."

Sirius stood and said, "I protest the court's decision; Lord Potter is wearing the Potter signet ring, will any of the noble families deny that as proof he is the family head."

Madam Longbottom stood and said, "As Proxy for my grandson, Lord Longbottom, I see no reason Mr. Potter should be denied recognition as Lord Potter, head of the Potter family and allowed a proxy vote."

Lord Greengrass stood and said, "The validity of this question stands on if Mr. Potter is legally the heir to the Potter family seat and entitled to wear signet ring. He must prove to the the court how he obtained the ring so the court may judge if he is legitimately Lord Potter."

Here came the dangerous part, Dumbledore would be infuriated. Harry stood again and said, "I learned recently from friends of my parents that my parents will was sealed by the Head Mugwump just after my parents were killed. My magical guardian, Dumbledore, never told me of my family heritage and responsibilities on my eleventh birthday as required by law.

When I enquired about it, my family account manager at Gringotts showed me a copy of the will that my parents left in the family vault. In the presence of witnesses, he read the will and, following the arrangements my parents made with Gringotts, he invested me as Lord Potter. I have a copy of the will and a copy of the signed investiture parchment."

Harry held up the papers and continued, "After consulting with legal authorities, I learned I was entitled to my family seat by proxy until I am of age. My advisor told me I had but to request my seat at Wizengmort session."

Madam Bones sent an Auror to Harry to get the papers; she looked them over just for show since she had already reviewed them when they arranged for Harry to request his seat.

Madam said, "The papers appear to be genuine, signed by Mr. Potter, a Gringotts representative, and a witness. The wills are signed by James Potter and Lilly Potter; do any members wish to review them?"

Nobody doubted Madam; so Harry asked again, "May I claim my seat?"

Dumbledore had been thinking of options to stop Harry from claiming his seat because he knew it was a prelude to Harry asking for a new guardian. He couldn't lose his control over Harry.

Dumbledore said, "I object, we don't know if these copies of the Potters' wills have been superseded by newer wills; only the official will on file with the ministry is admissible to claim head-of-family status and a seat on the court."

Sirius said, "You personally sealed the Potters' wills; I challenge you to remove your seal and let the official wills be read openly."

Dumbledore said, "I will remove my seal and allow the reading of the Potters' wills; however, it will take time to retrieve the wills from the Ministry's Department of Records. I do not wish to hold members for hours waiting for them to arrive; I suggest it be done at the regular session of the Wizengmort scheduled for February 10th.

I call for a motion to adjourn."

Lord Malfoy immediately made a motion and Lord Nott seconded it. Dumbledore banged his gavel before Sirius could speak. Malfoy wanted the time to plan how to either keep Potter off the court; or somehow turn it to his advantage.

Dumbledore thought it was odd that a motion made by Malfoy actually helped; but he didn't intend to look a gift Hippogriff in the beak. He had a month to stop Harry and keep him under control.

The first week back after Christmas break, Harry and Ginny were headed to the great hall when Malfoy and his minions blocked their path.

Malfoy said, "Well it seems the great Harry Potter doesn't always get what he wants. You think you'll impress people by claiming a seat on the Wizengmort; even your magical guardian Dumbledore won't let you claim a seat. They all know you're nothing but a phony."

Harry didn't answer but Ginny said, "At least Harry isn't afraid to walk the halls without two trolls as bodyguards. What are you afraid of Malfoy, that a little first year might jump out and shout boo at you?"

Crabbe and Goyle didn't seem to realize her troll comment referred to them; but Malfoy was angry and switched from insulting Harry to insulting Ginny.

He said, "You Gryffindor slut, when you realizes Potter will never amount to anything and he drops you; come over, there's a dozen Slytherins that will pay a Knut apiece for your services."

Harry was livid about Malfoy insulting Ginny, but never pulled his wand or said a word; he waved his hand in front of Malfoy's face, then took Ginny's hand an walked away.

Malfoy was trying to yell for Crabbe and Goyle to go after Potter, but his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and he couldn't speak.

An hour later, Snape had Harry and Ginny in Dumbledore's office. Snape said, "I want them suspended for attacking Mr. Malfoy. Madam Pomfrey still hasn't been able to reverse the curse they put on him."

Dumbledore asked, "Harry, what happened with Mr. Malfoy earlier today?"

Harry said, "Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle blocked our way and Malfoy began insulting me. Then he called Ginny a Gryffindor slut and said a dozen Slytherin boys would pay to have sex with her.

We ignored him and walked away."

Snape said, "You're lying Potter, you hexed Mr. Malfoy for no reason."

Harry said, "Neither Ginny nor I pulled a wand; but I'm sure Professor Snape will take Malfoy's word against ours like he always does."

Snape said, "Headmaster, you can see for yourself, he has no respect for teachers."

Ginny asked, "Since when is the truth disrespectful? Does Professor Snape have any proof we did anything; proof other than Malfoy's lies I mean?"

Dumbledore said, "Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, give me your wands."

They handed their wands over and Dumbledore pressed his wand tip to tip with Harry's wand. He said, "Prior incantatem."

From Harry's wand, the spell for producing water Harry had been practicing in charms appeared, then the same charm again, and again, more than twenty times. Then nothing happened for several seconds followed by the spell Harry was doing this morning in DADA; it repeated several times before Dumbledore cancelled his spell.

Dumbledore repeated this with Ginny's wand with similar results. Then he said, "Well Severus, neither of them seems to have done a hex on Mr. Malfoy."

Dumbledore gave there wands back and said, "You may leave, but I ask you to avoid Mr. Malfoy in the future if possible."

Harry said, "We always try to avoid him if possible sir; and we ask you to order him to avoid us. He seems to take pleasure out of seeking us out to harass us."

On the way back to Gryffindor tower, Ginny said, "Harry, you did hex Malfoy; you did 'Langlock' silently, and without your wand. How?"

Harry said, "I don't know; I was angry about what he said about you and it just happened."

Ginny said, "We'll have to look into this. I heard my dad say Dumbledore and Voldemort can do magic without their wands; maybe it's true."

January went quickly; Harry and Ginny trained and continued to build both their bodies and magical power. At least once a week, they also discussed political options with Sirius, Lupin, Madam Bones, and the Weasleys. They also reviewed more of Tom's memories, transferring important information to their memories.

Ron and Hermione still showed up occasionally to run, lift weights, or practice dueling; but never all three in one week.

At breakfast on the 9th of February, Ginny said, "Harry, we need to learn to Apparate; we may need to escape from Tom quickly some day, and it would be handy to be able to travel without having to arrange with some adult to use a flue.

We also need to learn Occlumency and Legilimency. I'm worried about Dumbledore searching through our minds. He may be looking to see what you have planned to try and get a new guardian and accidently discover Tom's memories."

Before answering her, Harry did his usual Scarpin's reveal-a-spell on his meal and his drink glowed blue. He hesitated for a second before saying, "Ginny, look."

She said, "Someone put something in your drink. Do you think it was Malfoy looking for revenge?"

He said, "Maybe, but before I say anything else, I want to know what's in there."

He waved his wand and chanted several different spells he got from Tom's memories; finally, he got a reaction from the drink.

"It's a compulsion potion." Harry said, "If I drank it I would be strongly compelled to follow the orders of whoever made it. It works something like the Imperious curse; but it doesn't show as a glassy eyed vacant expression so it's harder to detect."

Ginny asked, "So do you think Malfoy did it so he could order you to obey him or do something to get you in trouble?"

Harry said, "I doubt it; it's a NEWTs' level year potion and I doubt if he knows of it. Besides, did you forget that tomorrow is the meeting of the Wizengmort where I intend to ask again for my seat on the court? I think it's more likely that Dumbledore is trying to get me not to claim my seat."

They looked to the head table at Dumbledore; he was looking at Harry scowling.

Harry said, "Good idea about learning Occlumency, I think Snape can do Legilimency too. We should move both of them up in our timetable of things to do. I was also thinking that we should see if we can become Animagi. Tom never did it, but he did look into it and we have his knowledge of how to do it.

Being an Animagus helped Sirius to escape Azkaban and helped prevent him from being recaptured, if the map didn't show real names, we wouldn't have found him. We may need to escape or hide in an Animagus form some day."

Ginny said, "We won't have time to learn all three things unless we drop some other activity. I don't think it should be physical training or dueling, and we have to do homework to pass our classes; that leaves dropping time that we use to go over Tom's memories."

Harry said, "I think we can wait for summer to do more memories; we're up to the end of his fifth year, I think we can wait until summer to do his sixth year classes."

That night, they took an hour to go over the theory of Apparating, another hour to review Tom's memories of how to do Occlumency and Legilimency, and two hours to start brewing the Animagus Revealing potion.

February 10th arrived and Harry, accompanied by Mrs. Weasley, was again in the witness box at the Wizengmort session.

Dumbledore gaveled the session in order and said, "The first order of business is the request by Harry James Potter to claim a seat on the court. I regret that the Department of Records has informed me that they cannot find the Potters' wills. In fact, they have no record of a will being filed by either of the Potters.

For this reason I am tabling the request by Mr. Potter until an investigation can be conducted and the Department of Records can either find a will, or prove no will exists."

Harry yelled out, but Dumbledore ignored him. Sirius stood and said, "Mr. Potter has a copy of the will certified by Gringotts. I make a motion it be accepted until the official will is found or the Gringotts copy is proven to be false."

Before a second could be made, Dumbledore said, "The Potter seat has been vacant for thirteen years; I see no pressing reason to fill it today. An investigation by the Department of Records will not take so long that the court can't wait another month for it to be completed."

Dumbledore moved on with the agenda; and Harry and Mrs. Weasley left the room. Harry knew he would have to talk with everyone about forming a new strategy soon. He knew summer, and his return to the Dursleys, would come quickly.

Nobody could come up with an alternative plan; as long as the official wills were missing, Harry couldn't claim his seat, or change guardians. They all agreed that Dumbledore hid or destroyed the wills; but they couldn't prove it.

It turned out that Harry and Ginny's worries about the time it would take to learn Apparation, Occlumency, and Legilimency were unfounded. At seventeen, Tom was an expert at all three.

Using the map, they snuck off Hogwarts grounds, and with Tom's memories, they learned to Apparate after only five sessions. But knowing how, and having a ministry official license were two different things; they knew they would have to keep their new ability secret.

Occlumency and Legilimency turned out to be ninety percent based on organizing your mind; which was what they had been doing for six months by transferring Tom's memories to their own memories. By mid March, they established basic Occlumency shields, not nearly strong enough to block Dumbledore, but a good start.

They practiced Legilimency on each other. Harry would lower his Occlumency shields and let Ginny practice looking at his mind; then he would practice strengthening his shields to force her out. Then they would reverse. Both felt they were making good progress; but without someone else to try their skills on, they couldn't be sure.

The third week of March, the Animagus Reveling potion was ready. They went to a room on the seventh floor that Tom knew of. You had to walk back and forth three times asking for the room to appear and it would contain anything you needed.

They needed a room that nobody else could get into while they had their Animagus vision, and it gave them an empty room with floor pads to sit on during the trance and a door that locked from the inside. Two hours later, they were talking about what each of them saw.

Harry said, "I was in a forest when I saw a bird on the branch of a tree; but I didn't recognize what kind of bird. It was about the size of Hedwig, but it wasn't an owl. It wasn't an eagle or hawk; or any kind of water bird like a duck.

Maybe it was some type of tropical bird because it looked funny; its head looked too big for its body, and the feet also looked too big. I know it's my form, because it had black feathers on the head that were sticking out at odd angles like my hair does. The body was covered with fuzzy gray feathers and it didn't have much of a tail."

Ginny said, "I was a funny looking bird to; same big head and feet. Mine had red feathers on the head but the body had gray feathers like you said. But I didn't think mine look tropical, just funny looking. It reminded me of the baby chickens after they hatch, sort of all fuzzy looking, but not the yellow color of a peep."

Harry said, "That's it Ginny; we're not fully grown so our Animagus forms aren't fully grown. That's why we didn't recognize the type of bird, we saw ourselves as hatchlings; we could be almost any big bird like an eagle or osprey."

Ginny asked, "Will it be safe for us to transform if we and the bird form aren't mature?"

Harry said, "It could take years to fully transform; I'm sure we can practice arm to wing and mouth to beak type partial transformations. Then we'll be ready for full transformations when we're older."

Ginny said, "It's getting late; we better head back to the common room."

Harry said, "Okay, but I have an idea I want to check tomorrow. I wonder if this room can become a weight room, a dueling room, or an indoor track. Then we can do all our training here and not be seen by anyone."

By mid April, they could Apparate, cast every spell they knew silently, do simple spells wandlessly, and block their minds against each other. They had progressed enough to transform one of their human legs into a bird leg, or one arm into a wing; but not both at the same time, or both arms, or both legs.

For Easter break, they arranged for Sirius to take them to Gringotts to finish all the things there was no time to do on their first visit. Sirius also wanted to review the Black family finances. They again used visiting the Weasleys as the way of getting away from Dumbledore.

When they arrived at Gringotts, Sirius went to meet with the Black family account manager Silvertongue; Ginny went with Harry to meet Griphook.

They spent three hours going over Harry's investments in detail. He learned he had money invested with both magical and Muggle companies. Griphook had the power as account manager to buy and sell stocks in Harry's name as he thought best; Harry had no objections since under Griphook's care, all the stocks were making great profits.

Harry asked for information about some of the magical companies; he told Griphook to sell shares in any company involved with Malfoy, Nott, and a few others he knew to be followers of Voldemort. Harry said, "I don't care if I lose money on it, I don't want to support a company associated with those people."

Griphook showed his teeth again and said, "You dislike these people, and I understand why you do not like them. Perhaps I can arrange with other account managers so the value of these peoples' shares will fall more than your own. Though they have to work with these clients, even the managers of the people you named do not like them."

Harry asked, "Can I give Ginny access to my accounts? If something happens to me, I want her to have the resources to continue my fight against Voldemort."

Griphook answered, "Putting her name on your accounts is not a problem as long as you are alive. If you were killed without a will, the Potter family account would go to the next person in the line of succession; in your case some distant collateral relative. That person would undoubtedly challenge her right to access the account."

Harry asked, "What if I make a will and name Ginny my heir?"

Griphook said, "Naming her heir would partially help solidify her claim. She could not be heir to your title of Duke and whichever collateral relative in your extended family that gets the title can still challenge the will; it would be harder but not impossible for them to win."

Harry said, "Is there any way to assure Ginny's security."

Griphook said, "One, if you were to marry and produce a legitimate heir by birth; should you die, the Potter account would go to that heir. Your wife, as mother to your heir, could be named in your will as executor of the child's estate."

Harry looked at Ginny, he would be fourteen and she thirteen soon; they couldn't marry for four years when she turned seventeen. Harry said, "Have a will drawn up naming Ginny my heir; it's the best we can do for now."

Griphook nodded, then said, "We still need to look over your properties and visit your vault. It is past noon; do you wish to eat first?"

Harry said, "We're not supposed to leave without Sirius; could you check if he's done talking to his manager?"

Griphook said, "It is not necessary, I can have food brought in if you wish. It is quite common during long meetings like this."

Harry looked to Ginny and she said, "Let's do that, it will be faster than going out and having to return. If Sirius finishes, he can join us."

Harry asked, "Griphook, will you be joining us to eat?"

He said, "I will if you wish it; but Goblins and humans rarely eat together. We prefer raw meat and several varieties of fungus which humans object to."

Harry looked to Ginny and she said, "Bill told me about eating with Goblins; he said it takes some getting used to. I'm willing to try if you are."

Harry said, "You are welcome to eat with us if you wish to; we will not take offense, to your food, or if you decline our invitation."

Griphook stayed, his food was not attractive to them, but not repulsive either. They talked socially while they ate. Griphook said, "Your father and grandfather also shared meals with me; your father even sampled Goblin food, do you wish to try the meat or fungus?"

Harry and Ginny, knowing they could use Goblin help in the future, both took two pieces of raw meat and two mushrooms that looked similar to ones Molly used in making gravies. The uncooked meat was a little chewy but not bad tasting; and the mushrooms had a smoky flavor. Harry liked them, Ginny was neutral about the taste.

When they finished the Goblin food, Griphook said, "You did not spit it out or even make disagreeable faces; the Potter family is not like other wizard families, you accept Goblins and out customs as equals. The Weasley family also Miss Weasley, I have shared meals with your brother William. I think I will enjoy being your account manager."

Sirius did join them when their meal was almost over. Going over the property list was tedious; most of the properties were factories, warehouses, and stores which were being rented out. Finally, the last four caught Harry's interest.

Griphook said, "That is all of the investment properties, there are four residential properties.

First is the ancestral Potter home in Wales, the cottage in Godric's Hollow where your parents were killed. It was never repaired and your Ministry of Magic has made it a memorial site; to fix it would require petitioning the ministry. In my opinion, the cost would not be worth it; unless you want it fixed for sentimental reasons.

Next is your villa near Nice on the French Rivera, there are four house elves that care for it. It has five bedrooms, your grandparents used it as a vacation home when they were younger; because of the war, I don't believe your parents every had the chance to visit it.

Then there is your condominium on Park Avenue West, New York, U.S.A. Your grandparents stayed there four times a year when your grandfather had business meetings in the city. It is a three bedroom on the thirtieth floor. Two house elves maintain it.

Your grandmother once told me she loved taking walks in the large natural area across the street and visiting the museums nearby.

Finally, there is Potter Manor in the Lake District, your family's main house for the past three hundred years. It has six bedrooms in the manor house proper and two separate guest quarters of one bedroom each. The two hundred and fifty acres of land are mostly wooded.

There is a fifteen hundred foot shoreline on the lake with a boathouse; the number and types of boats are not listed. There is an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, and a full sized Quidditch Pitch which your grandfather had installed twenty years ago for use by your father and his friends. Five house elves care for the property."

The first thing that came to Harry's mind was, "If I own a house, I don't have to go back to the Dursleys."

Ginny asked, "Is there a way we can go to Potter Manor today to see it?"

Griphook said, "It can be arranged after we visit the Potter vault; that is next on our agenda."

The vault was much deeper that Harry's trust vault. When they arrived, Sirius said, "The Black vault is only two over; I was here two hours ago."

Griphook said, "The vaults of all the noble families are nearby in this high security area. Lord Potter, place you hand on the silver area near the center of the door."

When Harry did, the door opened. This vault was several times larger than his trust vault with piles of gold Galleons stacked up. But Harry wasn't interested in them, or the chests with jewels, and shelves with hundreds of old looking books. He was drawn to a desk near the door; two letters lay there with his name showing on both.

Sirius said, "Save them to read later; I recognize you mother and father's handwriting. You father told me they were leaving letters for you in case something happened to them."

Harry put the letters in his pocket and said, "Sirius, Ginny, look around for anything you think could be useful right now; it will take weeks to look at everything."

They ended up taking five books, two on mental magic, and two on Animagi that they thought would be helpful; the fifth was titled 'The History of the Potter Family'.

They returned to the surface where Griphook said, "Wait here, I will have a Portkey made to Potter Manor."

Ten minutes later, they were standing in the white marble entrance hall of a large house. Within fifteen seconds, a house elf came in and said, "Master Harry, welcome home. I am Bandi, the head house elf.

Friend Sirius, Bandi has not seen you for fourteen years; I hope you have been well."

Sirius said, "It is good to see you to Bandi."

Bandi said, "Gashnak Griphook, Bandi thanks you for bringing Master Harry home?"

Griphook said, "Gashnak Bandi, I bring him for only a visit today; I do not know when he will be home to live."

Bandi said, "It does not matter, Bandi knows if Master visits, soon he will come to live.

Bandi does not know Master's other friend."

Harry said, "This is Ginny Weasley, Bandi; she is always welcome here and you will treat her as you do me."

Bandi said, "Of course Master, Bandi can see she is you mate, and soon to be Mistress of the house."

Harry and Ginny blushed; Griphook showed his teeth again in the way Harry thought was a smile, Sirius was grinning and said, "I'm sure Ginny is looking forward to being Mistress of the house."

Four more elves had arrived, all dressed in similar style. Two female elves wore knee length skirts of pure white with Gryffindor gold and red trim and short sleeve blouses also white with gold and red trim. On the upper left of each blouse where a human heart would be, there was a gold badge with the red letters PM.

Bandi and the other two male elves wore white knee length shorts and shirts with the same design as the female elves blouses.

Bandi introduced them. "Master Harry, this is Minkie, she is the kitchen elf. This is Gristy, the cleaning elf. This is Parvint and this is Porvent, they are the grounds keeper elves.

Will Master and guests be staying for dinner?"

Harry said, "No Bandi, we just want to look around today; perhaps soon I will come to live here."

Sirius said, "I'll show Master Harry around Bandi; you may all return to your duties."

He told Harry and the others, "I lived here for over a year after running away from my family."

They walked around the house and grounds for an hour before Ginny said, "Harry, we have to get back to the Burrow. Mum will be frantic if we're not home for dinner."

Griphook said, "The Portkey will take us back to Gringotts; do you have any questions Lord Potter?"

Harry asked, "What kind of wards are around Potter Manor. I need to know how safe it is, and if it's unplotable."

Sirius asked, "What are you planning Harry?"

Harry said, "I'm not going back to the Dursleys, no matter what Dumbledore says. I want to spend my summer here; that is if it's safe."

Griphook said, "There are the normal anti-intruder charms for wizards; anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey except for the special Portkey Gringotts keeps for visits like today. Also anti-Muggle charms on all the grounds, and of course the normal flue network limits on access for only approved people. There are no high security wards."

Harry asked, "Can a Fidelius charm be put on? And are there wards that keep Dementors out? I don't want them to be able to get in here.

Does Gringotts do things like that for account holders?"

Griphook said, "Yes, there are wards to keep Dementors out. Goblins do not normally ward wizard's houses; but for you Lord Potter an entire array of high security wards can be done. However, it will be expensive."

Harry said, "Do you think I don't have enough money to afford them?"

Griphook didn't just smile, he gave a grunting like laugh and said, "No Lord Potter, I know you can afford the best; but is my duty as you account manager to tell you about expenses so you can make informed decisions.

I will give you a list of available wards when we return to Gringotts and you can decide which you want. Once you tell me what you want, it will take several weeks to install the wards."

Harry said, "Do them all, I don't care about the cost."

Griphook said, "It will be done as quickly as possible Lord Potter."

Harry and Ginny arrived at the Burrow just in time for dinner. Harry already told Ginny not to mention Potter Manor or his plans to live there to her parents. He knew that despite what the Weasleys knew about how Dumbledore had treated Harry, they would not want him living on his own.

Easter break was over and they were back in school. May passed quickly with training.

June and exams were close and Hermione was on them to study.

For months, Harry and Ginny had been debating what they should tell Ron and Hermione. All they told them so far was they were training because Voldemort would return, and about Dumbledore's plans for Harry's life.

They hadn't told their biggest secret, Tom's memories, and the fact they didn't need to study because of those memories. Ron seemed oblivious to Harry and Ginny's skills; but Hermione had noticed and commented on their increased speed and power doing spells. They never let her see them doing silent spells and now wandless magic.

Harry definitely didn't want to tell Hermione about his plan to live in Potter Manor. She didn't trust Dumbledore anymore, but Harry thought she was sure to tell McGonagall. He was also sure once she heard Harry didn't show up at the Dursleys, she would tell the Weasleys.

Ginny wanted to come live and train with Harry during the summer; and he wanted her to. But they both knew her parents wouldn't permit it if she asked them, and they would be crazed if Ginny didn't ask and just disappeared instead of coming home. He explained that, and made sure she knew he wanted her to come and she was welcome any time she could get away without her parents noticing.

Griphook sent Harry a letter telling him all the new wards were installed; but he would have to come to Gringotts to meet the ward caster so Harry could be made the secret keeper. Sirius snuck Harry there and back using Lupin's flue. Ginny and Sirius were the only ones Harry told the secret.

Exams were over, the train would be taking them to King's Cross station tomorrow. At dinner, Harry got a note that Dumbledore wanted to see him after the meal.

After Harry was seated, Dumbledore said, "Harry, I know you're not happy with me for making you stay with the Dursleys. I want you to understand it's for your own good; the wards there are the strongest I could make. You're protected from Death Eaters and anyone else that wants to harm you.

Near the end of summer, perhaps I can arrange for you to visit the Weasleys for a few weeks."

Harry didn't want to say anything to make Dumbledore suspect he had other plans; so he said, "I'm not happy Headmaster; but I understand. Please try and let me go to the Burrow as soon as you can."

Harry told Hedwig the secret to Potter Manor the same as he would tell any human, then let her free to fly to Potter Manor before he boarded the train.

He, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione spent most of the train ride together, Neville stopped in their compartment to say good-by along with some other friends. Of course, Malfoy couldn't let the trip pass without giving a final insulting remark to all of them before summer break.

He pushed the compartment door open and said, "Potter, have a pleasant summer with your Muggle relatives; I bet their place stinks as bad as the Mudblood's house and the sty the weasels live in."

Ron tried to stand, but Hermione held his arm.

Harry said, "Well, at least that will be an improvement; I won't have to smell your Slytherin stench for a few months."

Malfoy turned red and said, "It's time someone taught you to respect your betters."

He pulled his wand, but before he could cast a curse, Ginny pointed at him and he was hurled back out of the compartment, he slammed into the far wall and fell to the floor; then the door closed and locked.

Hermione looked at Ginny, but Ginny said, "I can't explain it now Hermione; I just got so angry."

Before Hermione could say anything, the train began to slow. Everyone stood to grab their trunks and other things. When the train was stopped, Harry let everyone go in front of him. When they were out of the compartment, he shrunk his trunk and Hedwig's cage and Apparated to Potter Manor.


	7. Chapter 7 - Summer Mysteries

Chapter VII – Summer Mysteries

Harry arrived at Potter Manor and found Bandi waiting. Bandi said, "I will place Master's things in his bedroom. Is Master hungry?"

Harry said, "Not yet, I have training to do; please tell Minkie I'll eat at seven. Please Bandi, call me Harry, not master."

Bandi answered, "Yes, Harry."

On platform 9¾, Mrs. Weasley was waiting; she gave hugs to Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Percy, and Hermione in that order. Then she asked, "Where's Harry?"

Ron said, "He was right behind me coming out of the compartment; he should be here any second, maybe he's stuck behind the crowd."

Minutes passed and the crowd thinned, Mrs. Weasley said, "Maybe you should go back on the train and look for him."

Ginny knew Harry was at Potter Manor by then; but she followed Ron and Hermione so they wouldn't suspect her of being involved.

They walked the length of the train looking into every compartment before going back to Mrs. Weasley. Hermione said, "We couldn't find him; something must have happened to him."

Mrs. Weasley asked, "Did anything happen on the ride home? Was there any trouble?"

Ron said, "Malfoy came in as usual; but Ginny threw him out, not Harry."

Mrs. Weasley looked at Ginny but before she could say anything, Hermione said, "Yes Ginny, about that, what did you do?"

Ginny again avoided answering about her use of wandless magic and took suspicion off her actually knowing where Harry was by saying, "That's not important; finding Harry is."

Mrs. Weasley said, "You six stay here, I'll Apparate to Hogwarts and tell Dumbledore Harry is missing."

Hermione said, "Mrs. Weasley, my parents are waiting for me on platform nine; I think Harry's relatives are there to. I'll go out and tell them; if my parents will let me, can I stay until we find Harry?"

Mrs. Weasley said, "Of course dear; let Percy know if you're leaving with your parents so we know you left and we don't think we have to search for you too."

Mrs. Weasley went to a designated Apparation point and left; Ginny went with Hermione to tell her parents and the Dursleys."

Hermione went to her parents first and explained about Harry; they walked over with her and Ginny to talk with the Dursleys.

Hermione took the lead saying, "Excuse me, are you the Dursleys, Harry Potter's relatives?"

Uncle Vernon asked, "Who's asking? Where is the little freak?"

Mr. Granger stepped in front of Hermione and said, "There's no reason to be rude; are you Harry's relatives?"

Vernon looked at Mr. Granger, he was taller than Vernon, more muscular, and looked like he worked out; when Mr. Granger took another half step toward him, Vernon decided he better answer. He said, "Yes, I'm his uncle."

Hermione said, "We can't find Harry; he was on the train, but didn't get off with us. We searched for him but couldn't find him."

Vernon said, "Then there's no reason for us to wait; it's just like the ungrateful wretch to make us come all the way here and not show up. If you find the little freak, you can keep him."

The three Dursleys turned and walked toward the exit.

Ginny said, "Harry always said his relatives were awful; but until you deal with them you can't really understand."

Mrs. Granger said, "They didn't even wait; they must not care for him at all."

Ginny said, "They don't, Harry said they hate him and treat him like a slave."

Hermione said, "So, mom, dad, can I stay with the Weasleys until we find Harry?"

Mrs. Granger said, "Of course dear; I know he's your friend and you're worried. Write and keep us informed about what you find."

The Grangers left and Ginny and Hermione returned to wait with the Weasley boys. Only minutes later, Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore arrived. Dumbledore asked, "Has Harry been found?"

Hermione said, "No sir, we searched the train but he's not on it. We told his aunt and uncle he's missing and they just walked away, they seemed happy he didn't show up."

Dumbledore said, "That doesn't matter. Did you find Harry's trunk on the train?"

Percy stepped forward and said, "No Professor Dumbledore, I personally went with my brother Ron to the compartment they were in; there is nothing left in it."

Dumbledore ran his hand down his beard, turned to Ginny, and asked, "Miss Weasley, can you tell me where Harry is?"

Everyone looked at Ginny; Mrs. Weasley said, "Why would you ask Ginny? How would she know where Harry is?"

Dumbledore said, "Harry didn't want to return to his relatives; but …"

Ginny interrupted, "Can you blame him; they treat him like a slave, lock him in his room, and don't give him enough to eat."

Mrs. Weasley said, "Ginevra Weasley, you will show respect for the headmaster. Answer his question."

Ginny said, "Fine, no I can't tell you where Harry is."

She knew he was at Potter Manor; but she was telling the truth. Because she wasn't the secret keeper for the Fidelius charm, she couldn't tell Dumbledore. Then she felt someone trying to gently probing her mind. Her Occlumency shields held and Dumbledore backed off.

His next question was harder to evade; Dumbledore asked, "Did you know Harry was going to run away; that he didn't intend to go to his relatives for the summer?"

Ginny couldn't think of a way to answer without lying; her hesitation gave away the truth.

Mrs. Weasley yelled, "You did know! Despite how Harry feels about how he is being treated, don't you realize how dangerous it is for Harry to be by himself? As soon as we get home, you go straight to your room, you're grounded until further notice."

Ginny knew it wouldn't take long for Dumbledore to figure out Harry ran away, and not much longer to guess that she knew it. She also figured she would be grounded once her mother found out; that didn't matter, in fact it was good. If she was confined to her room, instead of being given lots of chores, nobody would miss her if she Apparated to Potter Manor to train with Harry.

She knew the hard part was coming next; Hermione said, "Ginny, Harry is your friend; how could you let him put himself in danger. You should have told the headmaster as soon as you knew what Harry was planning."

Ginny turned to Hermione and said, "You should know better than anyone why Harry left; and you should also know why I didn't tell Dumbledore. I can't believe you would blame me."

Hermione thought back to what Ginny and Harry told her of Dumbledore's plan for them and said, "You're right Ginny, I shouldn't have blamed you; but I still think you should have convinced Harry not to run away."

Dumbledore said, "Miss Weasley, if you know where Harry is, please for his safety tell me."

Ginny said, "I can't."

Dumbledore said, "Very well; it will be harder, but I'll have to find him without your help."

The Weasleys and Hermione returned to the Burrow; Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts and immediately sent messages to Alastor Moody, Mundungus Fletcher, and Kingsley Shackelbolt asking them to meet with him in his office tomorrow morning at eight.

Dumbledore then Apparated to the southeast shore of Ullswater in the Lake District, but didn't see what he expected to see. He returned to Hogwarts to think of his next move.

As soon as they arrived at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley said, "Ginny, to you room, don't come out except to use the loo until you are willing to tell me where Harry is. I will send your meals to you."

Ginny said, "Then I won't be out of my room until September 1st; because I'll never tell anyone where Harry is. Are you going to put bars on my window and three locks on my door like Harry's relatives did to him?

I knew I should have gone with him; I'm no more than a prisoner here."

Ginny went up to her room before Mrs. Weasley could start yelling at her, so Mrs. Weasley turned to the others and yelled, "What are you boys still doing here; get your things put away."

The boys scrambled away, but Hermione just stood there; Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to notice her until she said, "Mrs. Weasley, where do you want me to sleep?"

Mrs. Weasley said quietly, "Sorry dear, I'm not angry with you or the boys; I just don't know what to do about Ginny since last year. She's been so different and doesn't think she needs to listen to me or Arthur anymore."

Hermione said, "I've noticed, Ginny and Harry spend almost all their time together either studying or training. Since Harry saved her, they both have been obsessed with preparing for 'You Know Who' to return."

Mrs. Weasley said, "Maybe we should take her to a mind healer?"

Hermione asked again, "Do you want me to stay in her room so I can try to talk her into telling where Harry is?"

Mrs. Weasley said, "Yes, try that for a day or two; if she still refuses, I'll have to insist she is left alone to think about what she's done."

On the third day, Ginny was still refusing, actually because of the Fidelius charm unable, to tell where Harry was. Mrs. Weasley sent Hermione back to her own home and decided it was time to give Ginny an ultimatum; tell where Harry was, or spend the rest of the summer grounded in her room.

Mrs. Weasley started with a plea for Harry's safety; she said, "Ginny, don't you understand that there are people who would hurt or kill Harry if they find him? All Dumbledore wants is to keep Harry at his aunt's house where he's safe."

Ginny said, "Safe at his aunts! That's a joke. Didn't you hear Harry say how badly he's treated at his relatives? He had to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs until he was eleven. They make him do all the housework and yard work. They barely feed him; you say yourself every time you see him how skinny he is.

Harry's cousin and his friends chase Harry and beat him if they catch him; they call it Harry Hunting and laugh when he's hurt. You must remember what the boys said when they rescued Harry last summer with dad's flying car; there were bars on Harry's windows, three locks on his bedroom door, and his aunt fed him through a cat flap in the door; they only let him use the loo twice a day."

Mrs. Weasley was flustered, but said, "Now Ginny, you know that's not true; I admit Harry is treated poorly by his relatives, but it can't be as bad as you say. The boys made that up because they thought I wouldn't punish them if I believed their story. Dumbledore would never let Harry's relatives treat him that way."

Ginny growled and said, "It is true mother, everything I just told you is true; and Dumbledore knew it and didn't care. He thinks being treated horribly will toughen up Harry so he'll be able to face Voldemort someday."

Mrs. Weasley gasped when Ginny said Voldemort; then yelled, "That's a lie, Dumbledore may be misguided in how he tries to control Harry, but he would never do something like that. You better learn more respect for Dumbledore; he's a great wizard and our only hope to stop 'You Know Who'.

Ginny said, "Dumbledore can't stop Voldemort; only Harry can, there's a prophecy that says so."

Mrs. Weasley had gasped again at the name and this time said, "I never want to hear you use that name again; what's the matter with you, you were brought up to have better manners that to say that name.

And where did you get the idea of a prophecy; are you a seer now?"

Ginny said, "Harry and I overheard Dumbledore and Snape talking about it; that's why we started to train for when Harry has to kill Vol…"

Ginny stopped because of the angry look on her mother's face; then finished, "… when Harry has to kill 'You Know Who'".

Mrs. Weasley said, "There's just no talking to you, is there? Just considered yourself grounded to your room for the rest of the summer; and wait until your father gets home and I tell him all this nonsense your spouting."

As Mrs. Weasley turned to leave, Ginny thought of using her mental techniques to put the truth into her mother's mind; but how would she explain her mother's sudden change of opinion to her father and everyone else. She would have to make changes to her father's mind too, and Ginny thought Dumbledore would be sure to investigate if her parents suddenly question his actions. He would discover her and Harry's mental abilities. It was best just to let mum rant.

Harry was in bed, but not sleeping. Since September, to stop their nightmares, Ginny had come to sleep with him after Harry's roommates were asleep. Over time, they both came to realize that not only didn't they have nightmares when they slept together; they began to have pleasant dreams.

It seemed odd to them that a thirteen-year-old boy, and a twelve-year-old girl would dream of being married and having a family; but then they would remember, because of Tom's memories, mentally and emotionally, they were seventeen.

Now, for the third night in a row, Harry couldn't get to sleep at all; suddenly, Ginny walked into the bedroom.

She said, "I couldn't sleep the last two nights; so after my parents went to bed, I decided to flue over."

She got in bed with Harry and he asked, "How bad was it when they found out I was gone?"

She told him what happened on platform 9¾ then said, "It didn't take long for Dumbledore to figure out I knew."

He asked, "What did your mom say? How much trouble are you in?"

She said, "I'm grounded, but that may be good. I can spend the time going through Tom's memories that we didn't get to yet, and if my mother leaves me alone in my room and doesn't punish me with loads of chores, I'll be able to sneak over her to train with you."

Harry asked, "What kept you away for the last two nights?"

Ginny said, "My mother had Hermione stay with me; she tried for two days to talk me into telling where you are. Finally, mum and her parents made her come home; she's still upset with both of us.

Set an alarm for half five so I can flue home before my mother get up to start breakfast for dad."

Soon they were asleep and having pleasant dreams.

The morning after Harry disappeared, a few minutes before eight, the flames in Dumbledore's fireplace turned green, first Kingsley arrived, then Alastor, and just at eight Mundungus. When everyone was seated, Dumbledore said, "Harry ran away yesterday; when the train arrived at King's Cross, he didn't get off."

Moody asked, "If he didn't get off, where is he and how did he get there?"

Dumbledore said, "Those are good questions. I believe he's at Potter Manor; I went there yesterday but couldn't find it."

Moody said, "Fidelius charm; it must be new because it wasn't there after James and Lilly died. I went there to search for Black; he used to live there with the Potters."

Dumbledore said, "I know, that's only one of the mysteries that bothers me; only the owner could have arranged to cast the charm, so Harry had to do it. I don't know if he got Sirius to do it for him; hired a professional ward caster, or worse, learned how to do it himself."

Kingsley asked, "Why is it so bad if he did it himself?"

Dumbledore said, "He's only thirteen; if he has the knowledge and power to do a Fidelius charm, soon there'll be no controlling him. He could turn dark like Voldemort did."

Kingsley asked, "So, how do you think he got away from the station to Potter Manor?"

Dumbledore said, "That's another mystery that bothers me, I don't know how he got off the train without being seen. He does have an invisibility cloak, a good one, but with the crowds, I don't know how he could get through with his trunk and owl cage without bumping into someone.

Even if he did evade the crowds, it's still a mystery how he could get to Potter Manor from King's Cross?"

Moody said, "The Knight Bus maybe. Or someone like Black made a Portkey for him."

Mundungus said, "Maybe he Apparated."

Dumbledore got a frown on his face and said, "I told you, he's thirteen; do any of you think a thirteen-year-old has the power to Apparate, even if he knew how?"

Kingsley said, "According to the official ministry information about Apparation, no one that age would have the magical power; minimum age to begin learning Apparation is sixteen. But maybe someone took him side along."

Dumbledore said, "No adults were seen getting on the train, and the guards didn't see any unauthorized Apparations from the platform."

Moody said, "We're wasting time guessing at all this. Why did you call us, what do you want us to do?"

Dumbledore said, "I want you to check into how he did the Fidelius charm and how he got from the train to Potter Manor. I need to get him back to his relatives' house for his own safety; but it's not just about that, I need to know more about how powerful he is.

Kingsley, you see what you can find at the ministry, Alastor, check with your private contacts, Mundungus, you check your less reputable sources. I'm going to see Sirius and Remus now to find out if either of them will admit they knew or helped him.

If possible, I want to bring Harry back to his relatives where I know he's safe; quickly and quietly before any Death Eaters discover he's missing."

Kingsley asked, "What else can you tell us?"

Dumbledore said, "The Weasley girl knew Harry's plan and I think she knows he's at Potter Manor; but she won't talk."

Moody said, "If Potter Manor is under a Fidelius charm, and she's not the secret keeper, she can't talk."

Mundungus said, "You can do Legilimency, use it on 'er."

Dumbledore said, "I tried probing mildly, she has some shielding on her mind; it's possible she has natural Occlumency power. I didn't want to push harder so she didn't feel me trying to get in her mind. Even if she only has weak shields, if I used too much force, it could damage her.

But worse, if she's not a natural, and built those shields herself and has enough knowledge to feel my probe she'll know what I tried. If she tells her parents, I don't think Arthur would take kindly to me probing her mind after that business in the chamber last year.

Kingsley said, "She's underage, that's illegal without a court order."

Moody said, "Not if her parents give permission; do you think they would?"

Dumbledore said, "Not Arthur, Molly might if I could convince her Harry is in serious danger and Miss Weasley could save him by telling me how to find him."

Mundungus said, "Tell 'er parents you need ta ask more questions and slip 'er some Veritas serum."

Kingsley said, "That's illegal to, and I don't want to be involved if you try it. I have to get to work. I'll let you know if I learn anything; but you keep your actions legal Dumbledore."

He left first, then the others.

Kingsley's reminder, that using Legilimency and Veritas serum on Miss Weasley or other minors was illegal, disturbed Dumbledore. He knew it was, but often bent the law for what he considered the greater good, that is keeping track of what Harry and his friends were up to.

He now regretted that he didn't use Legilimency on Harry, if he did, he would have discovered Harry's plan. He made a mental note to himself not to let Kingsley know how often he probed people's minds without a legal warrant.

Dumbledore flue called Sirius at his home at Grimmauld Place. He found Sirius and Lupin in the kitchen eating and asked, "Have either of you heard that Harry is missing?"

Lupin truly looked surprised, Sirius faked surprise, but it was obvious to Dumbledore that Sirius knew all about it.

Dumbledore tried to convince them, if they knew or learned anything, if Harry contacted them or any of Harry's friends told them anything, for Harry's safety they should let him know.

After Dumbledore left, Lupin said, "Sirius, I can't believe you helped Harry run away."

Sirius said, "What makes you think I helped Harry."

Lupin said, "Don't give me that 'I'm innocent' routine. Harry told you how much he hated living with his relatives; and you said several times that you understood because of your family treating you like they did. Several times you told Harry how you ran away to escape your family; you kept giving him a hint about what he should do."

Sirius said, "Okay, but you know how his relatives treated him; besides, Harry didn't need my hint, he already had his mind made up. You know Dumbledore planned the whole thing, I mean placing Harry with his relatives against James and Lilly's wishes; how can you say Harry should be forced to go back there."

Lupin looked and felt guilty about what Sirius said; he asked, "Can you guarantee Harry is as safe as he would be at his relatives?"

Sirius said, "Safer, where he is he'll be fed well, won't have to do chores, will be able to get his summer assignments done, and continue to train."

Lupin looked at Sirius, then said, "He's at Potter Manor, isn't he? Sirius, he's not safe there, Voldemort's followers know about Potter Manor. Once they find out Harry's missing, they'll think of looking there."

Sirius said, "Okay, then you go get him and take him to Dumbledore."

Lupin Apparated to the shore of Ullswater; looked about, and like Dumbledore, didn't see what he expected. He Apparated back to Grimmauld Place and said, "You put a Fidelius charm on Potter Manor, didn't you?"

Sirius said, "Not me personally; but Harry did, and had several other wards installed. Not even an owl is getting into Potter Manor unless Harry lets them."

Lupin asked, "Are you the secret keeper this time."

Sirius smiled and said, "That for me to know."

Summer was passing quickly for everyone; nearly a month was gone and Harry's birthday was approaching. Sirius visited at least once a week and showed Harry tips on dueling. Eventually, Harry had Sirius show Lupin a paper with the secret so he could also come and teach him new spells.

Ginny learned it was best to use the flue network at night after her parents were sleeping since it was quieter than the crack made by Apparation; but during the day, she had to sneak far enough away from the house to Apparate since her mother would see if she used the flue.

She flued over to sleep with Harry almost every night. During the day, after fluing home early before sunrise and letting her mother see her for breakfast, she would try and sneak out to Apparate back to Potter Manor to train.

That was hard to get away with it at first since her mother was bringing her meals to her room. Finally, the twins helped her out. They convinced their mother, that every day after they finished eating lunch, they would help her by taking Ginny's tray up to her since their room was closest to Ginny's.

They ate her food and, an hour or so later, return the tray saying Ginny asked them to do it on her way to use the loo. If she was careful, after her mother picked up her breakfast tray, most days Ginny could sneak out past the Burrow's wards without her mother seeing her and Apparate out. She would train and eat lunch with Harry, then just had to be sure to sneak back in by dinner time.

They learned to control their power while dueling each other so neither would be seriously hurt, still the elves had to treat them for minor injuries. Gradually they learned the medical spells to treat themselves.

Sirius and Lupin built practice dummies for them to use. These dummies could cast back and block spells; they also allowed Harry and Ginny to cast full power spells to strengthen their wandless, silent casting.

By Harry's birthday, each of them could face three 'sparing dummies' at the same time and defeat them.

Like the twins, Ron also knew Ginny was going to see Harry every day, and eventually he asked her why he couldn't visit Harry, Ginny checked with Harry and he wrote down the secret, "Potter Manor is on the southeast shore of Ullswater near Howtown," so she could show it to Ron.

Because he didn't know how to Apparate, Ginny had to flue over with Ron a couple of times. Eventually, Ron stopped going because he had expected to sit around playing chess or go flying on the Quidditch Pitch and didn't like all the work of training that Harry and Ginny insisted on doing.

They also wrote to Hermione who asked to come visit. Harry made her promise she wouldn't nag him about returning to the Dursleys; then agreed to meet her to give her the secret. They met at the Millennium wheel in a crowd of Muggles; Hermione's parents dropped her off.

She screamed when Harry grabbed her arm and side along Apparated them to the road near Potter Manor. She immediately chastised him for Apparating without a license until he threatened to take her right back home the same way if she didn't stop complaining.

She did stop, and once he showed her the house and grounds; and explained all the wards protecting the place, Hermione agreed Harry was safe there. When she saw the Potter library, she asked if she could stay for a few days.

They agreed that for Harry's birthday, Ron, Hermione, and the twins would all come for a small party. If the Grangers agreed, Hermione could stay at Potter Manor for a few days to train.

Her parents agreed to let her go to the party in the afternoon, but she had to be home by dark, and there was no way she could stay with a boy at his house with no adults to supervise.

Ginny showed the twins the paper with the secret the morning of Harry's birthday and they and Ron flued over together. The twins told their parents they were taking Ron into Ottery St. Catchpole to make some extra money working to clean out a house an elderly couple had sold to a newly married couple. Mrs. Weasley bought the story.

Minkie made a fabulous meal and birthday cake. They played three on three Quidditch, the twins and Hermione against Harry, Ginny, and Ron; they swam in the outdoor pool, and played some exploding snap.

By Harry's birthday, both Harry and Ginny had finished going through Tom's memories, both had finished organizing their minds for Occlumency and Legilimency, and both could cast spells silently and wandlessly. Because of their hard training routine, their magical power greatly increased, and their wandless spells were getting closer to the same strength as when they used their wands.

Their Animagus abilities had improved more slowly, they could hold two limbs transformed, but neither was satisfied with that. After Harry's birthday, they were spending more time on their Animagus practice than any other type of training.

It was extremely tiring, so much so that one morning in early August, neither of them heard the alarm go off. Eventually, Bandi came in the bedroom and said, "Mistress Ginny, you are late going home; you must go now."

Ginny woke, and when she saw the time, she panicked and tried to Apparate directly to her room at the Burrow from Harry's room at Potter Manor. She didn't move; neither the wards at Potter Manor nor those at the Burrow would allow it. She ran to the entrance hall and flued to the Burrow hoping her mother was in the kitchen and wouldn't hear her arrive.

She came from the flue to find her parents sitting on the divan waiting.

Molly said, "Well young lady, would you care to explain where you were in just a short summer nightie?"

Ginny knew she was already in as much trouble as she could be; so she said, "No, I don't think I want to explain."

Her mother stood and yelled, "It was not a request; you will tell us where you were. You spent the night with Harry, didn't you? You brothers were right about what you and Harry are doing.

You are not allowed out of your bedroom for the rest of the summer, and I'm going to have your father put wards on it so you can't sneak out."

Ginny thought things couldn't get any worse; so she said, "I was with Harry; and that's where I'll be the rest of the summer."

Before her parents could stop her, she threw a handful of flue powder into the fire, said, "Potter Manor." and jumped into the green flames after it."

She found Harry just starting breakfast. He knew something was wrong; first, she was back too fast, second she was crying, and third, she was still in her nightie.

He said, "Your mom was up and saw you come home, didn't she?"

Ginny couldn't talk but nodded.

Harry asked, "What did your mother say."

Ginny calmed enough to say, "Mom told me I wasn't allowed out for the rest of the summer and dad was putting wards on my room so I couldn't sneak out again.

I can't stay locked up Harry; that's what you relatives did to you. I have to train with you. Tell me you'll let me stay here."

Harry had planned to tell her to go home, until she said her parents were doing to her what Uncle Vernon did to him, locking her in her room. He knew just how she felt.

He said, "You can stay; but I would like you to write to your parents and try to make peace. I'll also write and try to explain."

Gristy found some of Lilly's clothes and altered them to fit Ginny so she didn't have to go back to the Burrow to get her own clothes or go shopping for new clothes.

The summer also went quickly for Dumbledore and his friends; but it was in a bad way, they didn't solve any of the mysteries about Harry. They still thought he was at Potter Manor, but couldn't prove it. Nobody could determine how he got out of King's Cross; and nobody could find out who put the wards on Potter Manor.

Moody and Mundungus claimed that between them, they checked with every ward caster in Great Britain, legal and illegal, all of them denied doing Potter's wards. Moody said, "I even asked some Goblins I know and they denied it."

Dumbledore said, "I could have told you that; Goblins only ward Goblin property. Many wizards offered big money for Goblin wards and were always refused. You know Goblins don't trust wizards enough to protect them; even when offered large amounts of money, which is unusual for a Goblin to turn down."

Kingsley said, "Are you sure about the Goblins? They did help him by telling him about Potter Manor, if that's where he actually is. Maybe they went beyond what they would normally do for a wizard."

Dumbledore looked disturbed and said, "Let's hope that's not the case. If the Goblins went that far as to ward Potter Manor, there's no telling what else they'll do to help him."

Kingsley said, "Anyway, there's nothing from the ministry; of course I might have learned more if I could tell people Harry is missing."

Just then, Dumbledore's fireplace turned green and Arthur Weasley's head appeared; he said, "Dumbledore I need to speak with you."

Dumbledore said, "Come through Arthur, you know everyone here."

Arthur said, "When Molly went to wake Ginny this morning, she wasn't in her bedroom. We checked the house and grounds and couldn't find her; I was just going to the ministry to report her missing when she flued in.

When we asked, she said she was with Harry. Molly lost her temper and yelled; then Ginny said she was going to spend the rest of the summer with Harry and before we could stop her, she called out; 'Potter Manor' and flued right back out.

Molly is frantic; can't you do something to get them back?"

Dumbledore said, "I've tried everything I could think of; these three have been looking for any clue that would help since the first day Harry left. We figured he was at Potter Manor, which you now confirmed; but it's under a Fidelius charm and we can't get in. I'm sorry Arthur; but if we can't get to them, at least you can be sure they're safe."

Molly was crying and told the boys to make their own breakfast, but wouldn't say why. Arthur returned and told her what Dumbledore said, but it didn't help. Suddenly, a Snowy owl flew in and landed on Arthur's shoulder.

There were two letters attached, one in Ginny's handwriting and one in Harry's. They opened Ginny's first.

Mom and dad,

I'm sorry if I hurt you; but I don't feel you've treated me fairly. Harry made the decision not to return to the Dursleys for good reasons; and he asked me not to tell anyone. He's my best friend and I couldn't break the trust with him.

Besides, I think he is right; ask Hermione and her parents what the Dursleys

said when we told them Harry was missing. Also ask her about how many wards

Harry set up here to protect himself.

Dumbledore said Voldemort is coming back some day and we know he will

come after both of us. We have to train and get ready to fight him. I know you think

we're too young; but we have to start to get ready now; we can't wait until we're

seventeen to begin training.

If you didn't ground me for being loyal to my friend, I wouldn't have had to

sneak out to train with him.

Try not to worry about me; we are safe and have good food and everything

we need. I hope to see you on platform 9¾ on September 1st.

Hedwig is the only owl that can find us and Harry told her to wait in case you

want to write back; I'll understand if you're angry and don't.

Ginny

P.S. Please pack all my things and have Ron or the twins bring my trunk here soon.

Mrs. Weasley cried while Mr. Weasley opened Harry's letter.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley,

I didn't want to cause trouble for you; but I couldn't stand to be with the

Dursleys another summer and you know I tried to do the right thing by asking for a

new magical guardian. I won't let Dumbledore force me there again.

Ginny is my best friend and I had to tell her my plans. I hoped you would

understand and not punish her; but she said she didn't care if you did, as long as

she could help me.

I asked her not to sneak out and come here; but she insists on training and

couldn't do it at the Burrow locked in her room so she wants to stay here and train

with me.

I know Voldemort is going to return, even Dumbledore says so. Tom almost

killed Ginny once, and we decided we can't sit around and wait for him to try again,

we need to start preparing now. We hope he won't be back for fifty years, but we

understand he may be back tomorrow. I hope you understand how we feel about

this

I told Ginny to write and try to make up with you. She is very upset right now;

but maybe if you promise her she can come and train with me, she'll come home.

I know you heard me having nightmares when I stayed at the Burrow; Ginny

has them to, but didn't want to tell you so you wouldn't worry. We discovered

accidently that when we hold each other while we sleep, our nightmares go away.

I know you believe what the boys said about me and Ginny doing

inappropriate things; but it's not true. We do sleep together, sleep only, holding

each other to stop our nightmares. I hope you believe us because neither of us

wants to be separated and start having nightmares again.

Hedwig will wait if you want to write back; don't try and send another owl,

they can't find us.

Harry

As Mrs. Weasley listened to Mr. Weasley reading the letter aloud, she final stopped crying. Now she said, "I can't believe this is happening Arthur; our little girl has run away to live in sin with a boy."

Mr. Weasley said, "I don't believe it's about what you're thinking Molly; I believe what Harry wrote. I talked with Ginny after she first came home from school and she finally told me they slept together all last year to stop the nightmares they both get when sleeping alone. She swore they aren't having sex and they both think they're too young to start.

They both made it clear that they believe 'You Know Who' is going to return and come after them; and they think it's their duty to train like soldiers to fight him.

Both of them were mentally scarred from when they were attacked by 'You Know Who'; and it's done something to them. They don't think they can rely on adults to protect them, and after what happened to them, they may be right."

Molly said, "What can we do to make them see that it's not their responsibility to fight 'You Know Who'? We have to get Ginny back here and take her to a mind healer. And Harry has to be made to see that no matter how bad his relatives are; he's safer there."

Arthur said, "We can write a letter and ask to meet with them; maybe if we talk in person, we can get them to see reason."

Mrs. Weasley agreed, then suddenly yelled, "What does Ginny mean, have Ron or the twins bring her trunk over. If that means they know where Ginny and Harry are and they didn't tell us, I'll chop them up and have Charlie feed them to his dragons."

Ginny read the Weasleys' letter when Hedwig came with it.

Ginny, Harry,

We would like to talk to both of you about this situation. Please come here

and talk with us. We only want what's best for both of you.

Mom and Dad

Harry asked, "Well Ginny, are you willing to give your parents another chance?"

Ginny said, "I don't know Harry; my mum's gone around the twist. I think if I go home she'll try some spell to stun or freeze me so she can lock me in and never let me leave again."

He said, "Suppose we ask them to meet us somewhere else; some Muggle place where they can't use magic without getting in trouble with the ministry so they can't do anything but talk."

Hedwig arrived at the Burrow with a note:

Mom and dad

If you promise not to try and force me to stay, we'll meet you at the base of

Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square at seven tonight so we can talk. If you bring

Dumbledore or anyone else, or try to force me to come home, I'll never return.

Ginny

Mrs. Weasley said, "Shall I flue Dumbledore; it may be his only chance to get Harry to safety."

Mr. Weasley said, "Molly, didn't you see what Ginny said? If they see Dumbledore, they'll leave and she said she'd never return. Do you want to take the chance she means it?"

Molly said, "But she also said if we try and make her stay she'll leave; we have to make her stay home, if I see her, I can't let her go again."

Arthur said, "If you try to hold her and she manages to escape, you may never see her again. Do you want to take that chance? Maybe I should go by myself and just talk like she asked."

At seven, Mr. Weasley was standing next to Nelson's column waiting. Ginny and Harry were walking toward him from the National Gallery. Ginny said, "I don't see mom; this doesn't feel right."

Harry said, "Maybe she was so worked up, your father didn't want to bring her. Maybe she wouldn't agree not to force you to stay."

There were about a hundred feet from Mr. Weasley when he spotted them through the crowd. He began to walk toward them and waved. They met and Ginny asked, "Where's mom? I didn't think you could keep her away."

Mr. Weasley said, "She wanted to make you come home with us; and she wanted to tell Dumbledore. I convinced her to wait at home so we could talk as you asked."

Just then, they heard Molly yell, "Ginny, how could you run away?"

When they looked, she wasn't the only one there, Dumbledore, a tall black man, a short scruffy looking man, and a man with a wooden leg who's face looked as if he gone through a mincer, were standing around them on all sides.

Dumbledore said, "Harry, you must return to your aunt's house."


	8. Chapter 8 - School Daze

Chapter VIII – School Daze

That was all they needed to see, Harry and Ginny twisted and disapparated away.

Moody said, "Well, that answers another one of the mysteries; how Potter got away from King's Cross station. But it brings up another mystery, who was the idiot at the ministry that wrote the official pamphlet that said a thirteen-year-old doesn't have the magical power to Apparate."

Arthur laughed then said, "Ginny's twelve; she won't be thirteen for another week. I hope that makes all of you realize how powerful those two children are.

Molly, I hope you're happy, because you may never see your daughter again."

Molly started crying, she said, "I just wanted to take my baby home." Then she collapsed.

Dumbledore said, "Arthur, do you need help to get Molly to St. Mungos?"

He answered, "Yes, if someone could help me get her up and to a place where we can Apparate unseen by the Muggles."

Kingsley said, "Just go from here, Aurors and obliviators from the ministry are already here to investigate; your daughter and Potter Apparated away in front of hundreds of Muggles, taking Molly to St. Mungos won't make it any worse."

The three men got around Arthur and Molly to block the view of them as they disapparated. Then Dumbledore said, "Kingsley, can you stay here and learn how much the ministry knows and how much trouble Harry and Miss Weasley are in?"

Kingsley said, "Mafalda has probably already sent them notices for hearings about using underage magic and using magic in the presence of Muggles. I'll let you know what I learn."

Moody said, "It will be interesting to see what she does when her owls return with the notices, under a Fidelius charm, Potter's owl is the only one that can find them."

Kingsley said, "I'll ask her when I get back to the ministry."

Dumbledore said, "I'm returning to Hogwarts; Alastor, Mundungus, continue checking on anything you can find out about the children."

At Potter Manor, Ginny was furious; she said, "I can't even trust my parents; they're so unfair."

Harry asked, "What do you plan to do now?"

She answered, "I'll stay here with you and train. Why are you asking; don't you want me to stay?"

Harry said, "You know I want what you want. If you want to stay, I'll be happy; but I asked because I want to know what you plan to do on September 1st. I'm not sure we can go back to Hogwarts; we used underage magic in front of hundreds of Muggles, we're sure to be in trouble with the ministry.

Also, I don't know what Dumbledore will try to do to us.

If you stay here the rest of the summer, what will Dumbledore do to you? What will you do when you find your parents waiting for you when you get to King's Cross Station or to Hogwarts?

Ginny said, "If you don't go back to school, I won't either. With Tom's knowledge and what we've learned on our own, we can pass our OWLs easily and probably our NEWTs to. Is there a place other than Hogwarts where we can take them? Is there any way we can take them now?"

Harry said, "I don't know. I've been thinking for the past week about what's going to happen if we go back to school. We've been so busy training; we've ignored everything and everybody. I only sent one letter to Ron and one to Hermione all summer before they came for my birthday."

Ginny interrupted with, "Don't worry about Ron or the twins, I regularly told them what we were doing."

Harry asked, "Didn't Ron want to come visit more often?"

She answered, "At first, but the more I reminded him about joining us running, lifting, and sparing, the more he decided he was on summer break and could train when we got back to school.

I also wrote Hermione several times."

Harry said, "Well, after what happened today, we have to make a decision, and we can't without knowing what Dumbledore and your parents intend to do if we go back. I think we should write and tell them we won't come back unless they promise not to try and hold us prisoners in the school and give us detention for the rest of the year."

Ginny added, "Or not let us train or see each other; or make me go to another school. Mom was always threatening to send the twins to a school in France if they got into anymore trouble."

Harry said, "I'm going to write Dumbledore and your parents and tell them we want to return to Hogwarts; but we won't come back and we won't stay if they try and punish us or lock us up in the school."

Ginny asked, "Even if they say they won't; can we trust them to keep their word. Look at what my parents did today."

Harry said, "I think your father was being honest and fair; I don't think he knew your mom told Dumbledore about the meeting with us. And, with Tom's knowledge, we know more about the school than anyone except maybe Dumbledore. If they did try to hold us captive, it would be hard for them to prevent us from escaping eventually. Part of my letter will be similar to what you told your parents.

I'll tell them if they don't keep their word, we'll leave the country and never come back. Dumbledore told Snape he had been making plans for my future since I was a baby; if he believes I'll really leave them to face Voldemort alone, I think he'll keep his word."

Dumbledore was in his office when a snowy owl entered through an open window and landed on his desk. He recognized Harry's owl and, after the fiasco in Trafalgar Square last night, expected it wasn't going to be a pleasant letter.

Headmaster

After your and the Weasleys attempt to capture us yesterday, Ginny and I are considering what we want to do on September 1st.

As we see it, we have three options. We can return to Hogwarts, we can leave Great Britain and enroll in a school in a foreign country, or we can leave Great Britain, get tutors, do home study, take our OWLs and NEWTs independently, and go on with our lives.

You know we have the money to move anywhere in the world for the rest of our lives, take new identities, and not worry about what happens here in England. You should also realize since it was the Goblins that set up my wards at Potter Manor, they will also help me access my money even if I am still under age and you are still my magical guardian.

As of now, we prefer to return to Hogwarts, be with our friends, and be normal students. We will return if you will guarantee that we will be treated the same as all the other students; but, we refuse to do so as prisoners and we also refuse to be controlled by you.

If we return, and Snape is abusive and unfair about grading honestly as he has been in the past, we will leave since it would mean you obviously can't control him.

If Draco Malfoy or any of the other Slytherin Death Nibblers in Training try to do anything to us, we will fight back with as much force as we need to stop them. If they end up in the hospital or dead because we had to defend ourselves, that will be their own fault and yours for not controlling them. We will not accept detentions or other punishments for having to defend ourselves against them.

If you can't or won't control Snape and the Slytherins and guarantee our right to a safe and normal school year, we will use one of our other options.

We are letting you know now that our return also depends on the Weasleys not forcing Ginny to leave the school or separate us. A letter similar to this one has been sent to them so perhaps you want to confer with them.

We understand if you cannot make a decision today; but if you are willing to consider our requests, please send a reply with Hedwig today. She will stay at the Weasleys after delivering their letter. If you refuse to consider our needs, tell us now so we can choose one of our other options.

You already know that no other owl, or even Fawkes, can find us. We will send Hedwig back on August 23rd and we will wait until August 25th for your response before leaving the country.

Harry Potter

Ginny Weasley

Dumbledore read Harry's letter then called McGonagall and Snape to his office.

He said, "You both know about what happened with Mr. Potter and the Weasleys in Trafalgar Square last night. I just received this letter from Mr. Potter and want you both to read it and give me your opinions."

He handed the letter to McGonagall first; she read it and just said, "Oh no."

She passes it to Snape; when he read it he said, "The arrogant little whelp; how dare he threaten you and the Weasleys."

Dumbledore said, "Severus, I know your opinion of Harry; what I want is your opinion on whether he, or I should say they, will actually do what he said, because Miss Weasley is sure to go along."

Snap spoke first, "No he won't Headmaster; Potter is a spoiled brat, but also a coward. He thinks he can get his way all the time, but he will back down if you stand up to him."

McGonagall said, "Severus is wrong, Harry means what he said. He and Miss Weasley worked hard all last year training to face 'You Know Who'. They have changed a great deal in the past year. He said he wouldn't go back to his relatives and he found a way not to. He says now that he'll leave the country and I feel he will do just that."

Dumbledore said, "I must speak with the Weasleys before deciding what to do; if they aren't willing to agree, it doesn't matter what I decide."

Molly was treated for shock at St. Mungos and sent home with several potions to take for the next week. Arthur had just finished reading Ginny and Harry's letter and was considering if he should wake Molly to show it to her, or wait until she got up on her own.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley

We are trying to decide on our future. We have sent a letter to Dumbledore so you will want to consult with him. We would like to return to Hogwarts; but have set what we consider reasonable conditions for Dumbledore to agree to.

We also want a guarantee from you that Ginny will not be sent to another school and you will not try to separate us. Dumbledore can tell you our options if he and you do not agree to treat us fairly.

Ginny and Harry

The flame in the fireplace turned green and Dumbledore flued in; he said, "Arthur, I received a letter from Harry and Ginny a few hours ago, it said you would get one too and we should talk."

Arthur said, "Our letter just arrived fifteen minutes ago and it said the same thing. Molly is still sleeping and I don't think she's in shape to handle this right now. Here, read what they wrote."

Dumbledore took the Weasleys' letter and handed Arthur the letter he got. He said, "Read what they're demanding."

After both men finished reading, Dumbledore spoke first. "Will you and Molly agree not to remove Ginny from Hogwarts and not try to separate Ginny from Harry?"

Arthur said, "I don't want to move Ginny or separate them, and I think Molly will agree. She just wants Ginny back in our lives and I think after what happened the other day, she knows now that if she interferes again with whatever kind of relationship exists between Ginny and Harry, she'll lose any chance at keeping any sort of relationship with her daughter.

What do you plan to do?"

Dumbledore said, "I have no choice; I have to promise them what they want."

Arthur asked, "Why? Don't get me wrong; I agree with you. I like Harry, he's an outstanding young man. But besides the fact he stopped 'You Know Who' thirteen years ago; what is so import about him now that makes you worried about him leaving?"

Dumbledore said, "Because I need your help to keep Ginny at Hogwarts so Harry will stay; I will tell you something I never told anyone else. You must never talk about this to anyone, not even Molly.

Before Harry was born, there was a prophecy made about him and Voldemort. Voldemort is not dead, to keep Harry safe, I can't tell you the exact wording of the prophecy; but it makes it vital to the entire magical community that Harry doesn't leave the country."

Arthur said, "Ginny mentioned something about a prophecy. I think I get the idea; it's astounding that such a big responsibility rest on such a young boy. Hedwig is still here; do you want to send them our reply?"

Dumbledore said, "Yes, I'll tell them we agree to their demands.

You said Ginny mentioned the prophecy; that's bad; Harry shouldn't have to deal with it at his age. Did she quote it exactly?"

Arthur said, "No, just that there was a prophecy that only Harry could defeat 'You Know Who'. Actually, I didn't believe her until just now when you confirmed it."

Ginny and Harry took the letter from Hedwig's leg and read it together.

Ginny asked, "What do you think?"

Harry said, "I trust your father, maybe your mother, from what you father says she's sorry and learned you mean to stay away if she does anything else. But, …"

Ginny finished, "But Dumbledore. Once he gets us in Hogwarts, what will he do?"

Harry said, "We'll find that out in a little over two weeks.

Let's talk of something else, tomorrow is your birthday, how do you want to celebrate?

The two of us can stay here by ourselves, we can invite Ron, Hermione, and the twins like we did for my birthday, or we can go out to a restaurant."

Ginny asked, "Can we go out? I mean I do love it here; but I haven't been anywhere but here and the Burrow for almost two months."

Harry said, "Sure we can go. We have to go to Diagon Alley to get our school things anyway; we'll do it tomorrow, and then go out to Muggle London to a nice restaurant for your birthday."

That morning, Minkie made a special breakfast for Ginny's birthday, then they dressed and Apparated to Diagon Alley at nine. They went to Gringotts to get money for shopping and Muggle money to pay at the restaurant later.

Griphook met them and suggested that, instead of carrying gold Galleons and Muggle money, they get a Gringotts' Charge Account. Gringotts only made it available to special customers with a high minimum balance in their vault.

He explained, "In magical shops, you simply touch your wand to the store's receipt and silently think your password to make payment. For Muggle stores, you have a plastic card that the clerk will use to make payment, then you sign your name."

They went to Madam Malkin's first to get robes and other clothes. Ginny always got used robes and was excited to be able to buy new ones; since they had grown so much during the summer, they essentially bought entire new wardrobes.

Harry had grown five inches since last year and added twenty-five pounds of muscle; he was no longer the small skinny boy that came to Hogwarts, he now looked closer to sixteen than fourteen.

Ginny grew four inches since last summer and only added fifteen pounds; but it was mostly muscle and distributed in the right places to make he look fifteen instead of thirteen.

Each of them got three school robes, five Hogwarts' uniform shirts, two ties, three pairs of uniform trousers, six pairs of warm woolen socks, six knickers, and Ginny got two uniform skirts and three bras.

When Madam finished adding everything up, she said, "That will be four Galleons, six Sickles."

Harry said, "We'll charge it to our Gringotts' account."

Madam looked at them, she recognized Ginny from the color of her hair as a Weasley. She knew they didn't have a lot of money and always bought used clothing. She didn't recognize Harry because over the summer, he let his hair grow long enough to hang over his scar and he wore it pull into a short ponytail.

Madam said, "Miss Weasley, I wasn't aware that your parents had a charge account with Gringotts."

Harry answered, "The Weasleys don't, we'll be charging it to our account."

He took the receipt from Madam's hand and said, "Ginny, you can do it."

Ginny got out her wand, touched it to the receipt, and thought, "Hedwig." They decided the owl's name was easy to remember, but uncommon enough that if anyone got hold of one of their wands, they would never think of it as their password.

When Madam saw the receipt glow green and the red word "paid" appear on the paper, she said, "Sorry for the question about your charge account Miss Weasley; I didn't know you had set one up. Thank you for your business, please come again."

They had similar problems in some other stores, Ginny said, "I guess there aren't many students our age that have charge accounts."

They met and said hello to many Hogwarts students they knew; but all the others were with their parents. Just after noon, they stopped at Florean Fortescue's ice cream shop to have sandwiches and sundaes before returning to finish their shopping.

While they were eating, Mrs. Weasley approached with Ron, Fred, and George. When Ginny saw her mother, she said, "Harry, we're about to find out if my parents will hold up their agreement to not try and separate us and make me go back to the Burrow."

Mrs. Weasley said, "Ginny, can I give a hug to my daughter on her birthday?"

Ginny got up and hugged her mother then said to her brothers, "Hi guys; Harry and I are school shopping; you too I guess."

Each of the boy wished her happy birthday; then Ron said, "Do you still want me to bring your trunk over? The twins and I can come tonight for your birthday."

Ginny said, "Harry and I are going out to a restaurant for dinner tonight; we won't be home until late. Maybe you can come tomorrow and we can swim and fly around the Quidditch Pitch for a few hours. We'll see if Hermione can come too."

Mrs. Weasley said, "You have a pool and Quidditch Pitch at your house Harry?"

Harry said, "Yes, my grandparents had them installed more than thirty years ago. Do you lot want to sit and have lunch with us; there's a lot we need to talk about."

Mrs. Weasley hesitated, then said, "We had a late breakfast before fluing over; I'm sure nobody is hungry."

Ginny could see on the boy's faces that they were hungry, so she said, "Maybe the boys would like an ice cream; why don't you all sit so we can talk. Feel free to order ice cream or sandwiches, or whatever you want; I want everyone to be comfortable while we talk."

The waitress came over and Harry said, "Add whatever they want to our bill."

Mrs. Weasley said, "No, I can pay for my boys' food."

Ginny said, "Mother please, this isn't about money. I'm not having a party or cake; let me at least buy you and my brothers ice cream on my birthday."

Mrs. Weasley said, "But you aren't buying it, Harry is."

Harry said, "Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and I are together now; what's mine is also hers, our money, our house, our destiny to face Voldemort.

More than a year ago, Ginny was attacked and almost killed by the same person that attacked and tried to kill me several times. I thought that you, who lost two brothers and so many other family members to him, would understand what that means to us.

We're tied together by those events more tightly than I suppose you can know. Ginny and I know he's coming back; and it will be us he comes after again.

There's a prophecy that only we, Dumbledore, and maybe one or two others know about that predicts it will happen. The prophecy doesn't say when he'll return, today or fifty years from now; but we know if we're not ready, he'll kill us and many others.

But if we are prepared for him, we can kill him instead and save many lives. The two of us together, decided to start training now to face him. Because you can't or won't trust us, Ginny had to sneak around your attempts to stop us.

We're sorry about that, but what we're doing is more important than both of us living a safe comfortable life now only to be killed in the future."

Mrs. Weasley said, "You're only children, it's not your job to fight 'You Know Who'; you should leave that to Dumbledore and other adults."

Harry said, "Mrs. Weasley, it is our job, I just told you, there's a prophecy about what has to happen."

Ginny said, "Forget it Harry, she hears your words, but she's not really listening to us.

Boys, order what you want to eat; Harry and I have a lot of shopping to do."

Harry, Ginny, and the boys talked about school starting and about Quidditch; Mrs. Weasley said nothing. When the bill came, Ginny touched it with her wand, it flashed green and "paid" appeared.

Ginny said, "Good-by mother, maybe I see you on platform 9¾; I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Harry said good-bye to everyone and they left to finish shopping. That night, they went to a Muggle Italian restaurant and, after they finished the meal, the staff brought out a small cake and sang Happy Birthday to Ginny.

At ten the next morning, the boys arrived, Hermione came a few minutes later and they spent the day relaxing around the pool and doing some flying.

At one point, Fred said, "We talked with dad last night about meeting you in Diagon Alley. We told him how mom acted and what was said; when we mentioned you talked about a prophecy, he warned us not to mention it to anyone else."

George asked, "What about this prophecy Harry?"

Harry said, "It's about me and Voldemort; I really can't tell you more than that."

The following week, Harry had a dream, or vision, about Voldemort. In the dream he saw a small disfigured Voldemort talking with a man in his thirties about a plot to capture Harry. Harry told Ginny about it and she insisted he tell Sirius. All Sirius said was if Harry had another dream, to let him know.

The next week, they heard on the Wizard Wireless Network that after the world Quidditch cup final, a riot started and the dark mark was seen for the first time in thirteen years. Harry had Bandi get the Daily Prophet every day for the next week so they could learn more about what happened.

By the last day of August, both of them were still struggling with their Animagus transformations; but all their other goals were completed satisfactorily. They sorted through all of Tom's school memories, their Occlumency and Legilimency skills were solid, they could do every spell they knew silently, and wandlessly, and they could Apparate.

On September 1st, Harry and Ginny Apparated to an alley near King's Cross station, since they didn't have Apparation licenses they didn't want anyone to ask about two underage students arriving at the designated Apparation point.

They had their shrunken trunks in their pockets and Harry had Hedwig's shrunken cage; Hedwig was free to fly to Hogwarts. They were early, so they grabbed a compartment, and locked it to keep anyone else from taking it; then they went back out on the platform to wait for the Weasleys and Hermione.

Hermione arrived first and Harry help stow her trunk in their compartment. The Weasleys, as usual, arrived at the last minute. Ginny hugged her mother and father, they talked for only a few minutes before everyone had to board; so Ginny said if they had more questions, they should write and she would try her best to answer everyone.

Fred and George went to sit with their friends; Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were left to themselves in their compartment. Friends stopped by for a few minutes each just to say hello, only Neville Longbottom stayed for over an hour to play a game of chess against Ron.

An hour before they were due to arrive at Hogsmeade Station, Malfoy, accompanied by his bodyguards Crabbe, and Goyle, opened the door. Before he could say a word, Harry said, "Get out Malfoy before I hurt you, we're not putting up with any of your insults this year."

Malfoy said, "Nasty, nasty, Potter, I was only interested in whether you planned on entering the tournament; I assumed an attention seeker like you was sure to try."

Harry asked, "What are you talking about Malfoy? You know I'm away from the magical world over the summer and don't hear any news."

Malfoy said, "You mean your friends haven't told you about it yet; or maybe they don't know either. Peasants are always the last to know what's happening."

At the word peasants, Harry raised his arm and the three Slytherins were pushed backward out into the corridor by an invisible force; then the door closed and locked.

Hermione immediately said, "That reminds me, Ginny did the same thing on the way home in June; how did the two of you do that? Magic without a wand is supposed to be impossible."

Harry said, "Well it's not impossible. All it takes is training Hermione; we asked you and Ron to train with us; but you were too busy doing homework and Ron made it clear he doesn't do school work over the summer."

Hermione said, "That's not fair Harry; I took a lot of courses last year and I had a lot of homework to do if I wanted good grades. And you know my parents wouldn't let me stay at your house to train without an adult present. You never mentioned training to do wandless magic."

Ron said, "You never told me you were training to do stuff like that either. If I knew, I'd have trained."

Harry said, "Sorry I snapped at you, I guess Malfoy just put me in a bad mood. Do either of you know what he was talking about?"

Hermione just said no; Ron said, "Percy has been teasing us for weeks that he knows something big is happening; but my dad wouldn't tell us what."

The train arrived and they rode the carriages to the castle. After the sorting and opening feast was finished, Dumbledore announced that the Tri-wizard Tournament was being held for the first time in hundreds of years and Hogwarts was the host school.

He was just finishing when the doors opened and the man with the wooden leg that was in Trafalgar Square with Dumbledore entered. Dumbledore said, "Just in time, I'd like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Alastor Moody."

Moody stumped his way to the front of the hall and Harry got a good look at his face for the first time. Besides being all scarred, he had an artificial eye that was whirling about looking all over the hall. The eye finally settled on Harry and Ginny.

He whispered something to Dumbledore and Dumbledore whispered back. Then Dumbledore told the students to head to their dorms.

Before Harry and Ginny reached the door, the head boy stopped them and said, "The headmaster wants to see both of you in his office before you go to your dorm. He said to tell you he likes peanut butter cups."

They went to the hall where the Gargoyle waited, gave the password, and went up the steps. Moody was there with Dumbledore and Harry said, "You asked to see us headmaster."

Dumbledore said, "Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, please be seated. This is Professor Moody and he would like to ask you a few questions."

Moody said gruffly, "I'm told Potter you're fourth year and you're third year Weasley; who taught you to Apparate."

Harry said, "Nobody taught us, sir; we learned on our own by reading about it."

Moody's artificial eye fixed on Harry and he felt Moody trying probe his mind with Legilimency; Harry sent extra power into his Occlumency shields and pushed Moody out of his mind.

Moody grunted and his eye moved to Ginny; he said, "Weasley, do you claim to have learned to Apparate on your own too?"

Ginny felt the Legilimency and as she pushed Moody out of her mind, she said, "Yes, that's the truth. And it's illegal to use Legilimency without a court order, especially on a minor."

Moody gave a rough laugh and said, "Apparating without a license is illegal. I'm an Auror investigating a crime little girl; so don't try and tell me what the law is."

Ginny was upset about being called a little girl so she used her Legilimency power to give Moody a sharp poke in his mind. He winced and gave a small grunt before he adjusted his Occlumency shields to stop her.

He said, "If you know the law so well, you should know it's against the law to use Legilimency on an Auror; what do you say to that little girl."

Ginny said, "I say if you call me a little girl again you'll be sorry."

Harry knew Ginny was angry, so was he, but he didn't want to start a duel with Moody and Dumbledore; so he said, "Auror Moody, are you accusing us of a crime? If so arrest us; if not, do you want to ask us anything else or are we free to go to our dorm?"

Ginny said, "Harry, perhaps, if we are being accused of crimes, instead of going to the dorm we should return home so we can contact our solicitor."

Dumbledore stood and said, "Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, you're not being accused of anything; I thought we had an agreement that you would stay a Hogwarts."

Harry said, "We agreed to return to Hogwarts if we aren't harassed and we are treated like the rest of the students.

Auror Moody said he was investigating a crime and he's questioning us. We assume that, he, as an Auror, and you, as Head Mugwump of the Wizengmort, would both know minors cannot be questioned without their parents or guardian present."

Dumbledore said, "I am your magical guardian Harry; or have you forgotten."

Ginny said, "That's a temporary thing we aim to change as soon as possible; and you're not my guardian, and I don't see my parents here.

Harry, I warned you he would try something and break his promise; we have to go home as soon as we can escape this prison."

Dumbledore said, "I resent your implication Miss Weasley; Hogwarts is not a prison and I certainly haven't done anything to break the promise I made to you."

Harry said, "Then why do I feel like there are Dementors just outside waiting for you to call them in? We know about your plan for my life; how you want to control everything I do. Well I'm telling you now, I'm not going to be your puppet; so stop trying to run my life or we will leave Hogwarts."

Dumbledore glared at Harry; but it was Moody that finally said, "Albus, perhaps bringing them here the first night back wasn't a good idea. Maybe they should just go to their dorm. I can talk with them another day when there is less tension in the air."

Dumbledore said, "Perhaps you're right Alastor, Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, I apologize if we made you feel uncomfortable; that was not our intent. Please go to your dorm and settle in for the night."

Harry and Ginny left and when they got to the Gryffindor common room, Ron and Hermione were waiting.

Hermione asked, "What did Dumbledore want?"

Ginny said, "Moody was there and tried to read our minds with Legilimency."

Ron asked, "What's Legilimency?"

Ginny explained it; then Hermione asked, "Do you think they were trying to find the secret to Potter Manor so they could stop you from going there next year?"

Harry said, "No and Yes. No, they weren't trying to learn the secret; you can't make the secret keeper give the secret using Legilimency, Veritas serum, or by any other method using force; it has to be told willingly. They both know that.

And yes, they are trying to keep us from returning to Potter Manor next summer. I think they were pushing us for two reasons. First, to see if we will really leave Hogwarts if Dumbledore doesn't keep his promise to reign in Snape and the Slytherins.

Second, he wants to find out how powerful we are, and if he is powerful enough to just force us to do what he wants. They found out we can Apparated at Trafalgar Square; today, they found out we're strong enough at Occlumency to block them and strong enough at Legilimency to hurt them.

Dumbledore couldn't take the chance to do it himself because he's afraid we'd say he broke his promise and we would just leave. He had Moody test us and say it's because he's an Auror investigating a crime so we couldn't blame Dumbledore.

I bet Moody will doing things to test us all year; like our spell casting power, dueling skill, and general knowledge. If Dumbledore learns he can't overpower us; he will try to trick us some way."

Ron asked, "Would you? I mean would you leave Hogwarts and your friends?"

Ginny said, "Yes Ron, if Snape continues to harass us and give unfair grades; or the Slytherins continue to insult and threaten us, we'll both leave."

Hermione asked, "Why would Dumbledore not think he's powerful enough to stop you?

After all, he's the most powerful wizard in the world; what could you two do against him?"

Harry said, "He knows we've been training to face Voldemort; what he's not sure of is how much we've learned and how much our magical power has developed because of it. And there are two of us he would have to stop at the same time without hurting us."

Ginny said, "If he hurt either of us trying to overpower us; he knows we would fight him every step and never cooperate with any plan he has."

Hermione said, "And we know what he has planned for you."

Moody did test them regularly.

Harry had DADA the afternoon of the first day and since he expected Moody to try something, Harry put up a strong shield charm before entering the room. As soon as he walked in, a stunner shot at him, bounced off his shield, and hit Ron who was right behind Harry. Ron fell to the floor.

Before the stunner even hit his shield, Harry sensed Moody's magic coming from what looked to be an empty corner; disillusionment charm Harry figured, and he shot his own stunner to that spot. It hit a shield and also bounced off.

Harry said, "Professor Moody, if we're we going to practice dueling, shouldn't it wait until the entire class is here so they can learn from it?"

Moody cancelled his disillusionment charm becoming visible; he said, "I didn't plan on dueling Potter, I just usually like to check students entering my classroom to see if they are practicing vigilance."

As Harry sat down, he thought, "Sure you do, and you just randomly picked me to test."

He warned Ginny who didn't have class until the next day; but instead of trying to stun her, Moody tried a stealth Legilimency attack on her. She felt his mind gently pressing on hers and instead of strengthening her shields; she suddenly counterattacked with her own strong Legilimency probe.

Caught off guard, before Moody could block her, she caught just a glimpse of his intent; Harry was right, Moody was testing their power in different areas.

He tried almost every day after that to do something to them, shifting his strategy every time to try and catch them by surprise.

The first month passed without Malfoy or the Slytherins even speaking to Harry or Ginny; but there was an incident Ginny ran into involving two Ravenclaw girls that she knew were in Harry's year.

She and her two roommates were working on a Transfiguration essay in the library; two tables away, the Ravenclaw girls were working on some fourth year essay. Ginny saw Malfoy come in, look at her, then go over to the other girls.

Ginny couldn't hear what Malfoy said, but did hear one of the girls say, "No you can't have our essays; we've been working hard on them for hours, write your own essay."

Malfoy said something else Ginny couldn't hear, then grabbed the two essays.

One girl tried to grab her essay back and the other said, "We're going to tell Professor Flitwick about this."

Finally, Ginny heard Malfoy say, "You won't say anything unless you want to end up in the hospital wing. And when you redo this essay, make enough changes so when my friends Crabbe and Goyle turn these in, it won't look like they copied them."

Malfoy took one step before Ginny froze him in place. She walked over, took the essays out of his hand, and said, "I'm reporting this to Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. If you or any other snake hurts these girls, you'll answer to me and Harry."

She gave the essays back to the girls and said, "You heard I'm going to report this, but you should report it to. Malfoy shouldn't think he can get away with things like this."

She unfroze Malfoy and said, "Get out of here, now."

When he didn't move fast enough to satisfy her, she hit him on the ass with a strong stinging hex; he yelped and ran from the library.

Ginny went to McGonagall and Flitwick, both promised to do something about it; but as his head of house, Snape refused to punish Malfoy.

Snape, also ignored both Ginny and Harry, he was no better at teaching, but for all September he didn't give them detention or a zero for a grade.

Then the first incident directly involving Ginny occurred. She had just come from Charms and decided to stop at the loo before meeting Harry for lunch. She was with her roommates and two third year girls from Ravenclaw; as they were coming out of the loo Ginny was knocked to the floor by Millicent Bulstrode who deliberately stepped into and swung her shoulder against Ginny.

In the year they were training, Ginny grew five inches and gained fifteen pounds of muscle; but at five foot four inches and one hundred five pounds, she was dwarfed by Millicent. At five foot nine and one hundred eighty pounds, most of the boys were afraid of her.

Millicent said, "Watch where you're going Weasley; maybe you should pay attention to your own business and not stick your nose into other people's business. It's bad enough that blood traitors like you stink up the loo without getting in the way too."

Still on the floor, Ginny said, "You're asking for trouble Bulstrode."

Three other Slytherin girls with Millicent laughed, Pansy Parkinson said, "Shut up Weasel, have respect for your betters. And that means don't interfere with what Draco does."

Pansy kicked at Ginny's ribs but missed because Ginny spun around on her side and did a leg sweep that took the one foot Pansy had on the ground out from under her. Pansy fell backward and her head hit the floor; Ginny raised a leg and brought her heel down on Pansy's face, breaking her nose and knocking her out.

Millicent and the two other Slytherin girls drew their wands, but before they could cast a curse, Ginny thrust out an arm and the Slytherins were hurled violently back against the wall. All three fell to the floor of the loo unconscious.

Ginny stood up and one of her roommates asked, "Are you okay Ginny?"

Ginny brushed off her robes and said, "Nothing more than a bruise from when I hit the floor; let's go eat."

But they didn't get ten feet before McGonagall and Snape arrived. McGonagall asked, "What is happening here? Some girls reported there was a fight going on in the girls' loo."

Ginny said, "Not much of a fight; it's over now."

One of the Ravenclaw girls said, "Millicent Bulstrode knocked Ginny over and Pansy Parkinson tried to kick her when Ginny was still on the floor."

McGonagall went into the loo and found the four Slytherins still unconscious. McGonagall sent her Patronus to get Madam Pomfrey and said, "Severus, four of you students are hurt, I'll take these girls to the Headmaster's office if you will wait for Poppy to arrive."

Snape was scowling, but nodded at her.

When Dumbledore saw Minerva come into his office followed by Ginny and the other girls, he knew there would be trouble. He asked, "What can I do for you Minerva?"

McGonagall said, "Headmaster, there was a fight in the girls' loo. By the time I arrived, it was over, so these girls will have to explain what happened."

Because the girls kept interrupting each other, it took time to tell the story; Ginny hadn't said a word up to that point. Then the door opened and Snape came in.

He said, "Headmaster, I warned you there would be trouble if you gave into Potter's demands. Miss Weasley attacked four of my Slytherin girls for no reason; Madam Pomfrey said they are seriously hurt."

Dumbledore said, "Miss Weasley, you haven't said a word so far; what is your version of what happened."

Ginny said, "You already heard what happened; the Slytherins attacked me and I defended myself. Pansy admitted it was revenge because I reported Malfoy for trying to steal those Ravenclaw girls' essays; for which he was never punished by the way. I just defended myself, Harry and I told you in the letter before school started that we would do that if you didn't keep the Slytherins under control."

Snape interrupted, "She's lying, my girls told me they were simple entering the girls' loo when they were attacked. You let Potter and Weasley get away with whatever they want to do."

The other girls in the room started yelling and Dumbledore said, "Ladies, You can't all talk at once."

Marry Cummings, one of Ginny's roommates said, "Headmaster, it was just like we told you earlier, Ginny was talking to us when Millicent deliberately knocked her down and Pansy tried to kick Ginny. We don't know how she did it, but we all saw that Ginny was just defending herself. Pansy did tell Ginny not to stick her nose into Draco's business."

Dumbledore said, "Very well, you girls may leave. Miss Weasley, I would like you to stay so we can talk."

Ginny said, "Are you going to punish the Slytherins for attacking me? If not, there's no reason for us to talk, Harry and I will be gone by tonight."

Snape yelled, "You impudent girl, how dare you tell the Headmaster what he should do?"

Ginny turned to Snape and said, "Apparently you don't understand English; I didn't tell him what to do. I asked him what he was going to do; I told him what Harry and I are going to do."

Snape pulled his wand and pointed it at Ginny, but before he could do anything, he froze in place. Ginny said, "Professor McGonagall, if I decide to press charges with Madam Bones against the four Slytherin girls for attacking me; and I ask the Board of Governors to fire Snape for drawing his wand on me, I want you and all my friends to be witnesses.

I'm going to tell Harry what happened so we can decide if we're leaving."

After Ginny and the other girls were gone, Dumbledore tried to release Snape, but he remained frozen. Dumbledore said, "Minerva, you'll have to be the one to convince Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley to stay at Hogwarts. Tell them the Slytherin girls will have a week of detentions and Miss Weasley will not be punished for anything she did."

McGonagall said, "I'll talk with them Albus, but if you don't do something about the Slytherins, and", she looked at Snape's frozen form, "Severus' attitude, I'm afraid Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley won't be here much longer."

Because the Slytherin girls were given detention, and Ginny wouldn't be punished, Harry and Ginny decided to stay.

Quidditch was cancelled because of the Tri-wizard Tournament, but Harry and Ginny went to the pitch occasionally to fly for fun. They also used the Room of Requirement to continue training. It became an indoor track for them to run mornings, a gym in the evenings with a variety of weights, and a dueling room with training dummies when they had time to practice.

The thought of learning wandless magic was too good to pass up; so Ron and Hermione started to come every day to run in the morning, lift at night, and practice dueling when they had free time.

The beginning of October, Harry and Ginny began teaching Ron and Hermione Occlumency and silent magic. Hermione learned to do simple low power silent spells quickly; but Ron couldn't stop himself from whispering every spell. Harry tried to explain that whispering was still talking; silent casting required a different sort of backward technique.

Instead of first thinking about the spell's words and wand movements, then casting your magic, you had to feel your magic in your body first, push the magic down your arm, and just as it was coming out, you thought of what you wanted to do with it.

Ron made no progress at silent casting or Occlumency all through October. Since her mind was already quite organized, Hermione was beginning to form mental shields.


	9. Chapter 9 - The First Task

Chapter IX – The first Task

The 30th of October, twenty students from each of the two other schools in the tournament arrived. For the welcoming feast, the students from Durmstrang found seats at the Slytherin table; the students from Beauxbatons sat with the Ravenclaws.

Dumbledore and two representatives from the ministry explained the rules. Anyone wanting to compete had one day to put their name and the name of their school on a piece of paper and place it in the Goblet of Fire.

The goblet would select the most qualified student from each school as a champion; once chosen, the champion could not back out under penalty of losing their magic.

There would be three events; five judges would score each champion. For the last event, the champion with the highest score got a five-minute head start over the second highest score then another five minutes before the last champion started.

Whichever champion finished first in the last event would be the winner.

The Goblet of Fire sat in the entrance hall all night and through the next day. People watching said all the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students put their names in, along with nearly two dozen Hogwarts students.

After dinner the next day, the Goblet of Fire was set in the center of the dining hall. As everyone watched, the blue flame turned red and a paper was ejected out. Dumbledore caught it and read, "The champion for Durmstrang is Victor Krum." Krum was the eighteen-year-old seeker for the Bulgarian National Quidditch team. He was six feet tall, almost ninety kilos of solid muscle, and had a very determined expression as he walked to the front of the hall.

The blue flame turned red again and Dumbledore read from the paper that came out; "The champion from Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour." A slim seventeen-year-old girl with silvery blond hair stood and smiled as she walked up front.

The flame turned red and Dumbledore read, "The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory." The handsome well-built seventeen-year-old seeker from Hufflepuff stood and joined the others up front.

Dumbledore said, "Now that we have our three champions, the first contest will be at three in the afternoon of November 24th. Before he finished speaking, the flame had turned red again and another paper came out.

A nearby student grabbed it and handed it to Dumbledore; he looked at it, then at Harry; he looked down at the paper again and said, "Harry Potter, come up here this instant."

Harry didn't move; he hadn't put his name in the goblet, he had no interest in competing. Dumbledore called his name again and Ginny said, "Harry, you have to go if you want to find out what's going on. They can't make you compete because you didn't enter."

Harry walked up to Dumbledore who handed him the paper, it said, "Harry Potter, The Independent British School of Magic."

Dumbledore asked, "What's the meaning of this."

Harry answered, "I have no idea; but I bet you could tell me."

Dumbledore glared at Harry then said, "All students except the champions will return to their dorms. Champions, you will come with me."

Harry, Dumbledore, the other three champions,the two ministry representatives, and the headmasters of the other schools all headed to a small room off the dining hall. McGonagall, the head of Harry's house, the head of Cedric's house Madam Sprout, Moody, and Snape followed along.

As soon as the door closed, everyone but Harry started talking. Dumbledore called for silence and then said, "Harry, did you enter the tournament under the name of that phony school?"

Harry was still holding the paper that came out of the goblet; he handed it to Dumbledore and said, "No sir, you know I didn't. The handwriting of the name is mine, but not the handwriting of the school.

If you check, it looks like it's torn from the upper right corner of a parchment; that's where we are required to put out names on every homework assignment and research paper. It looks like someone got one of my papers, tore off the section with my name, and added a phony school name before putting it into the goblet."

Snape said, "You're a liar Potter; you can't stand someone else getting more attention than you, so you thought up this little scheme to enter the tournament. I'll bet the handwriting of the school name matches Miss Weasley or one of Potter's other friends."

Harry said, "I don't care whose handwriting it is; I didn't put it in the goblet and I'm not competing. Headmaster, you promised I would be safe here at the school this year and my name coming from the goblet shows you've broken that promise. Ginny and I will be gone from here before breakfast tomorrow."

One of the ministry representatives said, "You cannot leave Mr. Potter. It doesn't matter who put the paper in the goblet, you admit the signature is yours; a valid signature make this a binding magical contract. If you don't compete, you forfeit your magical powers."

Harry was surrounded by teachers and the other three champions; he said, "I guess you think you have me trapped here Headmaster; at least for the rest of this year."

Dumbledore said, "Mr. Potter, I hope you're not accusing me of putting your name into the Goblet of Fire."

Harry said, "I know you wouldn't personally do it; not when you have willing minions to do it for you; isn't that right Moody, Snape."

McGonagall said, "Mr. Potter, you will learn to respect the Headmaster and your professors. You will report for detention with me for the rest of the week."

Harry said, "Sorry Professor McGonagall, I don't think you were involved with this and I do respect you; but not these other people. I won't come to detention; you can't give me detention because I'm not a Hogwarts' student. I go to the Independent British School of Magic; look at the paper that came from the goblet.

Dumbledore may have forced me to compete in this tournament; but he can't hold me here.

Ginny and I are leaving; I will return on November 24th to compete in the first task, then leave again. I will do the same for the other tasks; after the last task you'll never see me in England again."

Harry turned and started walking away when Snape said, "I will stand for no more of your arrogance Potter; you will go nowhere."

Snape shot a stunner at Harry's back, but it bounced off a shield of some type. All summer while building his magical power, Harry gradually became aware that he could sense other people's magic. He had been using this sense to identify individuals without seeing them; Ginny's magic felt different then Hermione's, and both felt different then Ron's. Even Fred's magic felt different then George's.

While in dueling practice, he also learned he could feel a person's magic build as they prepared to cast a spell. As he was walking away, he could feel the different magic of the dozen people behind him. Even before he heard Snape's voice, he felt Snape's magic flare up in preparation to cast a spell.

Knowing Snape's opinion of him, Harry realized whatever spell Snape fired, it would be a nasty one, so Harry put up a silent shield in anticipation. At the last second, Harry was able to identify Snape's spell as a stunner; he knew his shield would hold, so he just continued walking.

While Harry continued walking, Snape yelled, "You won't get away with this Potter."

Moody said, "Well Albus, now what? He can Apparate, knows Occlumency and Legilimency, and can cast powerful silent spells; how do we hold him here?"

Not caring there were others near enough to hear, Dumbledore answered, "I don't know; and you forgot, since his back was turned, he also must have been able to sense Severus' magic and tell what spell was going to be cast in order to get the shield up so fast."

Moody asked, "Do you suppose the Weasley girl has all the same powers?"

Dumbledore said, "Without a doubt; what one can do, so can the other."

McGonagall said, "Albus was Mr. Potter right? Did you arrange to put his name in the goblet to assure he had to stay at Hogwarts?"

Dumbledore said, "Not now Minerva; we can talk later in private."

McGonagall didn't need to hear any more to know Dumbledore did exactly what Harry accused him of doing. She scowled and went after Harry; what she would say or do when she found him, she didn't know.

All the others returned to their dorms or offices leaving only Dumbledore, Moody, and Snape in the small room. Moody asked, "Albus, what do want us to do to stop Potter from leaving?"

Dumbledore didn't answer immediately; he hadn't thought Harry would realize he was behind his name being put in the goblet, at least not so quickly. What to do now was a good question; using force could injure the boy, or worse, the boy was powerful enough that he might injure one of them. Either way, the story would make it to the papers; it would be a public relations nightmare.

He said, "I'll order the Fat Lady to keep Gryffindor tower sealed for now. There is only that one exit; it will give us time to think of something better."

Snape said, "What if Potter decides to blast the Fat Lady's portrait from the back side; he's not beyond doing that."

Dumbledore said, "Severus, hurry and place your strongest shield on the portrait; then join us in my office."

McGonagall didn't catch up to Harry until she reached the Gryffindor common room. She found him talking with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione; she was just in time to hear Harry say, "… so get packed, we have to leave before he tries something else."

Ginny turned and went up the girls' stairs; Hermione said, "Harry, Professor McGonagall is here."

Harry turned and said, "Professor, I don't have time to talk; Dumbledore is undoubtedly planning some way to prevent us from leaving; so I have to hurry."

McGonagall said, "Mr. Potter, I'm sure things are not as bad as you imagine. If you would talk with me, I'm sure I could help you resolve your differences with the Headmaster."

Harry didn't answer; he turned away and went to pack. McGonagall said, "Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, can't you talk to him?"

Hermione said, "I tried all summer; Harry and Ginny overheard the Headmaster and Professor Snape talking about the Headmaster's plans for every detail Harry's life; he even had a plan to make Harry marry me by giving us love potions. It angered Harry and Ginny thatthe headmaster would try to control their lives; and I can't blame them, I'm angry too."

McGonagall said, "Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley mentioned something about that last year but wouldn't tell me any details. Are you sure about that love potion business? Could you tell me more?"

Hermione said, "I'm not sure Harry and Ginny would want me to say any more; I can tell you they confided in Sirius and professor Lupin."

Snape came through the door and said, "Sonorus. The Headmaster has confined all Gryffindors to their dorm until further notice; this door will be sealed. Quietus."

When he saw McGonagall he said, "Minerva, you better leave now before I seal the door."

She said, "We'll see about this. Miss Granger, tell Mr. Potter I am going to see the Headmaster this instant."

Not a minute after she left, Ginny came down the girls' stairs with her trunk and Harry came down the boys' stairs. Hermione told them what happened and when Harry tried to go out, the door refused to open.

He said, "Everyone stand back, I'll have to blast it open."

Ginny said, "Harry, don't. It wouldn't be right to destroy the Fat Lady or her portrait."

He asked, "Do you want to stay trapped here?"

She said, "No, we have to leave; but not that way. Let's sneak out, if he leaves the door sealed until he decides on a plan to keep us hereit might take him days to know we're gone. Let's shrink our trunks; I'll come to your room in a minute and we'll leave. I need something I left in my room.

Ron, Hermione, we need to talk before we leave; please go with Harry to his room."

When McGonagall arrived at Dumbledore's office with Snape right behind her, she said, "Albus, how could you seal them in like prisoners?"

Dumbledore said, "Minerva, Harry is out of control; he must stay at Hogwarts to insure his safety. He was in great danger all summer because he refused to obey."

She said, "He and Miss Weasley know about your plan to control their life and refuses to allow you to do that. They are not animals to be controlled, or tools to be manipulated as you would wish. He's a boy and she a young girl; both are entitled to live their own lives their way."

Dumbledore said, "Miss Weasley is not important; but Harry is not a boy like other boys; he has a destiny and a duty to all wizard kind and I will see that he does what is necessary."

She was shocked and said, "I see Mr. Potter is right about you controlling him; I suppose there is no further use talking with you."

She left and Dumbledore asked, "Severus, are they sealed in?"

Snape said, "Yes Headmaster, with the strongest shield I could cast. Unless he knocks half the castle down, they can't get through."

Dumbledore said, "Then we have time to come up with a more permanent plan. I will have the house elves bring tomorrow's meals to the Gryffindors and it won't hurt them to miss a few classes until we figure out what else to do."

McGonagall returned to her office and flued directly to Grimmauld Place. She told Sirius and Lupin the story of Harry's name coming from the goblet, how Harry accused Dumbledore of putting his name in, and of Gryffindor tower being sealed to prevent Harry from leaving.

After Remus calmed Sirius down to keep him from going to Hogwarts and attacking Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sirius, and Lupin decided to go together and just talk with Dumbledore; but found the flue to Dumbledore's office shut off. The three sat down with cups of tea to discuss what could be done to free Harry.

They all knew that the flue to Gryffindor common room, like all the other house common room flues were closed to passing through so no unauthorized person from the outside could enter a house, and a homesick student couldn't just leave asked McGonagall if it was possible to flue call through the common room fireplace so he could at least talk with Harry, before she could answer, the fireplace turned green and Harry flued in.

When Harry saw McGonagall sitting with Sirius and Lupin, he said, "I guess you already know what happened."

Late in the afternoon of the next day, Dumbledore, Moody, and Snape went to the Fat Lady's portrait; opened the door and found all the Gryffindors sleeping in various locations throughout the tower.

Moody said, "The sleeping potion in their food seems to have worked; they won't be able to resist us. Now all we have to do is find Potter and cast the compulsion spell on him so he'll be forced to obey your orders."

Dumbledore said, "Don't forget Miss Weasley, if we don't cast the same spell on her she'll try and cancel the spell on Potter.

I don't see either of them here in the common room, Severus, you and Alastor go to the third year girls' room and cast the spell on Miss Weasley. If she's not in her room, check the other girls' rooms.

I'll go to Mr. Potter's room to search for him."

Half an hour later, all three men were back in the common room. Moody said, "We couldn't find her Albus, we searched every girls' room, all seven years."

Dumbledore said, "I couldn't find Mr. Potter in any of the boys' rooms either. How could they have gotten out? Severus, are you sure they were in here when you sealed the door?"

Snape said, "Positive headmaster. Should we search for them again?"

Dumbledore said, "No, somehow they escaped. I'm sure they're gone."

At Potter Manor, Harry and Ginny were discussing when they planned to take their OWLs.

Last night, Harry flued to Grimmauld Place to tell Sirius and Lupin what happened. He found McGonagall there with them and she had already told them the story; he realized that she now believed him and could be trusted.

Harry gave her the secret to Potter Manor and theyall flued there to decide on what could be done. McGonagall's first question was, "How did you get out of Gryffindor tower? I saw the shield spell Professor Snape put on the Fat Lady's portrait; I hope you didn't destroy her to escape."

Ginny said, "No Professor, I guess it's been a long time since Dumbledore and Snape flew anywhere; Snape didn't shield the windows, so we just got our brooms, jumped out a window, and flew back here."

Sirius laughed, "I wish I could see Dumbledore's face when he finds out they're gone."

Harry told McGonagall that he and Ginny planned to leave the country and take their OWLs and NEWTs as soon as they knew the regulations of how to do that in whatever country they settled in.

She was surprised about them talking about taking the fifth year tests and seventh year tests when Harry was only beginning his fourth year and Ginny beginning her third year.

Harry answered, "You know we trained hard all last year and all summer; it wasn't just physical training and dueling, we also studied ahead. We finished all the material up to the end of seventh year and beyond that in some subjects."

She asked them some questions from old NEWTs tests in Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, and DADA; difficult questions that she remembered talking about with other and Ginny answered all the questions to her satisfaction. Some of the questions, Lupin and Sirius couldn't answer.

McGonagall said, "You know you don't have to leave the country to take your OWLs and NEWTs early. The ministry Department of Magical Licenses will give the tests by appointment any working day for a small fee. If you feel confident, contact Madam Marchbanks and she'll arrange times."

Harry said, "That's fine, but it doesn't help us with Dumbledore; we'll still have to leave the country."

McGonagall laughed and said, "Mr. Potter, don't you know, no matter what your age is, if you pass a minimum of five NEWTs, you're considered an adult because you can hold a job. Since most wizard jobs require you to do magic, you are freed from the restriction on underage magic, you can handle your own bank account, marry, own property, and do everything any other adult does; and you won't have a guardian."

Ginny asked, "Do you mean he'll be free from Dumbledore legally? All we have to do is pass our NEWTs and that's it?"

McGonagall said, "It's not as easy as you make it sound Miss Weasley, first you have to take and pass your OWLs in at least the five areas you plan on taking the NEWTs in. Then there's a few weeks' wait for the scores; if you pass the OWLs, then you can schedule the NEWTs. After taking them, there's a few more weeks' wait for the grades.

If you passa minimum of five NEWTs, you have to fill out the paperwork for the certificate of emancipation, and go to a hearing to explain why you want to be emancipated. You will have to show you have applied for and been hired at some type of magical job; then, if the committee agrees, there's another few weeks' wait to get the emancipation papers.

While doing all that, you Mr. Potter must also show up to participate in the Tri-Wizard Tournament on November 24th, and again on the date of the second task in February."

Harry said, "We'll work it out; we'll contact Madam Marchbanks tomorrow."

So now while eating breakfast the next morning, Harry and Ginny were trying to decide on dates to take the OWLs.

Harry said, "I suppose the easiest way to do this is to flue to the ministry and see Madam Marchbanks in person. We can pick up the forms to take OWLs and maybe even fill them out right there. Then there's not much we can do until the scores come; once we have the scores, we do the same thing for NEWTs."

Ginny asked, "Will we run into a problem with Dumbledore if we show up at the ministry?"

Harry said, "I don't think so; most likely he won't be at the ministry, and even if he has an informant that will let him know we're there, I don't think he'll try and take us captive in front of everyone and risk us fighting back."

They flued to the main entrance of the ministry where their wands were checked and returned to them. A directory showed the license department to be on the same floor as Mr. Weasley's office. They decided to see Madam Marchbanks, get the necessary forms first, then stop and see Mr. Weasley.

There were people waiting in the license office and they were given a number; it took more than half an hour before their number was called. After explaining what they wanted, they were each given nine pages of forms, one page for each OWL they planned on taking,and they were sent to another room to wait for Madam Marchbanks.

They started filling out the forms which were long but not difficult; they had each finished three pages of the nine when a very old looking witch came out of an office, glanced around the room, and asked, "Who wants to apply to take OWLs early?"

Harryand Ginny looked at each other, they were the only people in the room besides the old witch, Ginny said, "We do. Are you Madam Marchbanks?"

She said, "Of course I am; who else would be in my office? How old are you two? You can't be fifth years."

Harry said, "I'm fourth year, Ginny is third year."

Madam said, "Then why are you here? OWLs are end of the fifth year exams."

Harry said, "Professor McGonagall said there is no age requirement; that we could take our OWLs if we felt prepared."

Madam said, "That law was intended for fifth yearsto take their exams early because they couldn't finish the year at Hogwarts for some reason; like their family moving out of the country."

Ginny asked, "Does that mean we can't take OWLs because we're not fifth years?"

Madam said, "No, of course you can take them you silly girl; didn't that young man just say you knew there is no age requirement. What it means is you're probably wasting your money and time because most likely you won't pass."

Harry said, "That's our problem. We want to schedule OWLs for DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Muggle Studies, and Care of Magical Creatures."

Madam asked, "What dates do you want? Most students do one a day but since you feel so confident, you can schedule two a day. The written part takes two hours, eight to ten in the morning; the practical part is done after a fifteen-minute break.

Afternoon exams are one to three for the written part, then a break followed by the practical. Except the Astronomy practicalof course, it is at nine at night."

Harry said, "We'll take two a day, next week starting Monday."

Madam said, "It's your funeral; give me your paperwork and a Galleon for each test."

Harry said, "I have the eighteen Galleons, but we're not done with the forms yet; can we come back in an hour to hand them in to you?"

Madam said, "They'll take the applications and payment at the main counter; I'll see you both Monday at eight."

They went to Mr. Weasley's office, he was out, but his assistant told them they could sit at Arthur's desk to finish the forms. They just finished when Mr. Weasley returned.

He said, "Ginny, why are you here?"

They hugged as Ginny explained. When she finished, he asked, "Why can't you finish school normally?"

Harry told him about Dumbledore putting his name in the Goblet of Fire so Harry had to stay at Hogwarts all year or lose his magic. Then said, "McGonagall told us if we pass five NEWTs we're considered adults and I won't have to have Dumbledore as my guardian.

Mr. Weasley, you know what I've gone through to get free of him."

Mr. Weasley asked, "I can see why you would want this Harry; but why Ginny too. She can finish school normally."

Ginny said, "Don't start daddy, you know Harry and I are a team. I go with him and I hope you and mom will understand and don't start on me again."

Mr. Weasley didn't look happy, but said, "I understand pumpkin, but I don't think your mother will be too happy about you leaving school and growing up so fast."

They returned the forms, paid the cost, and went back to Potter Manor.

That night, Harry had the same dream as in the summer; Voldemort and a man were talking about capturing Harry for some plot.

The Gryffindors woke to find the door to the tower open again; they knew it was too late for class, but they had no memory of being unconscious or why they had missed their classes. They went to dinner talking about why the day seemed to pass so quickly; and about Harry's name coming from the goblet.

Hermione and Ron were the only ones that knew the truth, and how Ginny and Harry got away.

Dumbledore was with Moody and Snape in his office considering how Ginny and Harry got out when a contact at the ministry flued a message that Harry and Ginny had been seen visiting Arthur Weasley at the ministry but were already gone. The contact didn't know what they said to Arthur.

Moody asked, "Are you going to contact Arthur and ask what the kids wanted?"

Dumbledore said, "No, he wouldn't tell me anything."

At Sirius' suggestion, before going in for the exams every day, Ginny and Harry did glamour charms on themselves to preventthe reporters that are always on assignment at the ministry from recognizing them.

The week went fast and with Tom's knowledge in their memories, the OWLs didn't seem hard at all.

November 24thwas next week and the first task was approaching; Harry wasn't worried. He didn't plan to compete for a win; he planned to show up, give some effort for show, settle for last place in whatever the task involved, and return home.

McGonagall sent a message that he had to be at the school on November 20th at nine in the morning to have his wand checked and for a publicity picture with the other champions.

Worried about what Dumbledore might try, Harry asked Sirius and Remus to accompany them. Harry and Ginny flued to McGonagall's office where Sirius and Remus met them. They all went to the room where Mr. Ollivander was checking the wands. As soon as Harry walked in, a woman dressed in lime green robes and wearing rhinestone-studded glasses ran over to him.

She introduced herself as Rita Skeeter a reporter for the Daily Prophet and asked Harry for an interview. Harry saw Dumbledore head over toward them and Harry said, "I'd be happy to give you an interview Ms. Skeeter."

Sirius and Remus waylaid Dumbledore and began to question him about how Harry's name got into the goblet, while Rita led Harry to a far corner of the room; Ginny came along.

Rita said, "I need to speak to Harry alone."

Harry said, "Ginny is with me or no interview."

Dumbledore ignored Sirius and Remus, pushed past them, and when he came near, Harry said, "Sorry Headmaster, wants a private interview."

Dumbledore said, "I'm you magical guardian Harry, I'm entitled by law to be present when you give public interviews."

Harry thought it over and said, "Okay Headmaster, for once you want to follow the law. You may not like what I say."

Rita looked back and forth between Harry and Dumbledore before finally asking, "Harry, what made a fourth year like you think of entering a tournament meant for seventh years?"

Harry looked at Dumbledore before he said to Rita, "I didn't enter. Dumbledore arranged to enter me because I threatened to leave Hogwarts and he wants to keep me prisoner here so he can use me as a tool to fight Voldemort."

Rita looked from Harry to Dumbledore again; she thought she had never seen him look so angry."

Dumbledore said, "Harry, you shouldn't say things like that."

Harry asked, "Why not? It's true; you arranged everything about my life since my parents died. You kept me in a Muggle home where my relatives treated me like a house elf since I was five. They starved and beat me and you did nothing to help me."

Dumbledore said, "I tried to keep you protected from the Death Eaters looking for you. I didn't know your relatives mistreated you."

Harry said, "If you didn't know, why was my Hogwarts letter addressed to 'The Cupboard Under the Stairs'; you must have know they made me sleep is a closet for ten years."

Rita's quill was writing furiously and Dumbledore said, "Ms. Skeeter, this is off the record, as Harry's guardian I must insist you destroy those notes."

Harry said, "Why Headmaster? Are you afraid the public will learn that, despite the law requiring you to take me to Gringotts when I turned eleven to hear my parents' will and be invested as the head of the House of Potter, you didn't follow the law.

Instead, you used your power as head of the Wizengmort to seal the will so I would never know that my parents appointed guardians for me and you could keep me from them for your own reasons.

Then you sent a letter telling the Goblins you knew the contents of my parents' will, and you would personally tell me; but you never did.

And let's not forget that you authorized monthly payments from my vault to the people you knew were abusing me. Did you get that Rita? He paid the people he knew were beating me."

Rita asked, "Dumbledore, what do you have to say about these accusations?"

Dumbledore said, "No comment. Harry, you have to come and get your wand checked so this interview is over."

Harry went over by Mr. Ollivander and Ginny said, "Ms. Skeeter, if Harry has to go, I'll finish telling you about how the Headmaster drugged all the students in Gryffindor house so he could capture me and Harry."

Dumbledore said, "Miss Weasley, since your parents aren't here, as Headmaster I must act 'In loco parentis' and order you not to talk with Ms. Skeeter."

Ginny said, "You can't order me to do anything. I'm not a student here; Harry and I withdrew from Hogwarts two weeks ago; we're students at The Independent British School of Magic, remember. If anyone should be with me, it's Sirius and Remus, they're our teachers now."

Dumbledore said, "Then if you aren't a student at Hogwarts, you have no right to be here; I order you to be off Hogwarts property in ten minutes or I will call the Aurors and have you arrested."

Ginny asked, "Are you ordering all the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students other than the champions to also leave. If not, why do they get to stay and support their champions, but Harry isn't entitled to have someone to support him?"

Dumbledore looked angry and said, "Those students aren't here at the wand weighing, you are and I'm ordering you yo leave this room."

Ginny said, "Fine, Ms. Skeeter, if you want the true story, come with me, I can tell you why we're filing charges with the Hogwarts Board of Governors against Professor Snape for creating a hostile learning environment and against and Headmaster Dumbledore for refusing to correct the problems after years of complaints."

Ollivander had finished checking Harry's wand, and Harry rejoined Ginny. He said, "Ginny, let's get out of here before Dumbledore tries to imprison us here again."

Rita followed them, Dumbledore returned to his office and flue called Barnabas Cuffe, the editor of the Daily Prophet, to say he would sue for libel if Rita's story accusing him of doing anything bad to Harry Potter was published.

Rita argued with Cuffe that Harry and Ginny swore everything they said was true; but Cuffe refused to publish the article. He said, "Even if it is all true, if Dumbledore sues, it will drag on for years and cost the paper a fortune in solicitor's fees. Even if we win, it won't be worth the cost."

The article was never published.

On November 24th, Harry and Ginny arrived through McGonagall's flue at two o'clock. They had learned the tournament rules said that each champion was entitled to have a representative from the school to observe the task and act as a judge for all the champions. Sirius or Remus would have been the obvious choice; but the rules didn't say it had to be the headmaster of the school or a teacher, just someone selected by the champion's school.

After Dumbledore tried to make Ginny leave the wand weighing, they decided to rub the rules in Dumbledore's face. Since Ginny was the a student with Harry in 'The Independent British School of Magic', she would appeal to the ministry representatives and demand that she be their school's representative and be given a vote in the scores the same as the other schools' representatives.

When they showed Dumbledore that rule, he objected to her as a judge. Harry didn't really care about the scores, but to show Dumbledore he couldn't control them, he and Ginny went to the ministry representatives and showed them the rule. They said if Ginny wasn't allowed a vote, they would protest the scores and the outcome of the tournament.

They also threatened to go to the newspapers with the story that the tournament was fixed to favor the other champions by giving them a judge and refusing to let Harry have a representative. Karkaroff and Madam Maxime didn't care about bad publicity and demanded Ginny not be allowed as a judge; but Dumbledore and the ministry representatives knew the bad publicity would make them, the entire ministry, and all of Great Britain look like fools. Ginny was allowed to be a judge by a three to two vote of the other judges.

Before heading down to the arena where the event was to take place, McGonagall informed Harry that there was to be a Yule Ball on Christmas Eve and as a champion, Harry had to attend and with the other champions start the opening dance. Ginny was thrilled, Harry not so much; he said, "I don't know how to dance."

Ginny said, "Don't worry, mom taught me all the formal dances and I know the modern dances too, There's plenty of time for me to teach you."

Harry knew the first task was to get a golden egg being guarded by a dragon; McGonagall told him this during the wand check. He asked her why she did it since the rules prohibited teachers from help their champion.

She smiled and said, "I teach at Hogwarts, you're not the champion from my school and the rules do not prohibit a teacher from helping the champion from another school."

In the champion's tent, they drew model dragons from a bag; Harry got the Hungarian Horntail and fourth position. As the others faced their dragons, in his mind, he was reviewing his plan, which was to summon his broom and fly about to tease the dragon into leaving her nest so he could grab the egg.

When his turn came, he walked out and was about to summon his broom when he heard the dragon roar and begin to hiss. The dragon was speaking in some dialect of Parseltongue; it sounded strange, but Harry could understand it.

The dragon said, "I heard the other mothers crying as humans stole or destroyed their eggs; I will not allow you to take or harm my eggs, I will kill you if I must."

An idea immediately formed in Harry's mind; he spoke in Parseltongue to the dragon saying, "I do not wish to hurt you or your eggs. Look at your nest, there is a false egg there; give me the false golden egg and I will tell the men who brought you here to be gentle when they return you and your eggs to your home.

If you promise not to hurt them, they will not hurt you or your eggs."

The dragon's language was not exactly Parseltongue, but it was close enough for the dragon to understand that Harry meant no harm to her or her eggs. The dragon used her snout to push the golden egg from the nest and it rolled down the hill into Harry's hands. He held it up like a captured Snitch and the crowd cheered. His first task was over in less than a minute.

When Charlie Weasley and some other dragon handlers came out to control the dragon, and try to get it into the enormous transport crate; Harry said, "Don't hurt her and she won't hurt you. I promised her if she let me have the golden egg, you would treat her and her eggs gently while taking her home."

Harry hissed at the dragon, "The humans only want to put you into a crate so they can take you and your eggs back to your home; they will put your eggs in a soft warm nest to protect them while you travel. It will not hurt you or your eggs; go with them and you will be home tomorrow."

He bowed and the dragon bowed back before calmly walking into the crate. The men gathered the eggs into a warmed temporary nest.

Harry said, "You better let me put the nest in the crate with her."

Charlie handed Harry the nest and he walked over to the crate and placed it inside. He said to the dragon, "I hope you and your nestlings will have a good life after they hatch."

Ginny gave Harry a ten, what she thought was a fair score since he finished in the shortest time without injuring himself, the dragon, or the eggs. She had also given the other champions fair scores; two nines for Cedric and Fleur who got their eggs quickly, but had received minor injuries, and a seven for Krum who had a minor injury but also damaged three eggs.

She then joined Harry in the medical tent for his mandatory health check. As madam Pomfrey checked Harry for injuries, they realized there was a problem with Harry's score.

The problem was the two Headmasters from the other schools said he cheated because he didn't physically interact with the dragon or use magic to get the golden egg. The ministry officials checked the rules and said all that was required was for the champion to get the golden egg without permanently hurting the dragon or the other eggs, the rules had no other restrictions on how the champion did it.

While the judges argued, Harry and Ginny left, they weren't interested in his score. He ended up with Ginny's ten and three other tens from the ministry officials and Dumbledore; the other Headmasters gave Harry zeros.

The next day was busy, McGonagall showed up with their OWL scores; they had the scores sent to her since no owls except Hedwig could find Potter both got nine outstandings.

McGonagall didn't understand how a thirteen-year-old and a fourteen-year-old who claimed to study on their own could get such good scores; but she congratulated them and returned to Hogwarts so she could make her class.

Ginny and Harry flued to the ministry and spent most of the morning registering and paying to take their NEWTs. Madam Marchbanks was as astonished at their scores as McGonagall had been; but since she had proctored the exams personally, she knew they hadn't cheated.

After lunch, Harry said, "I've been thinking we have to start investigating Tom's Horcruxes."

Ginny asked, "What about our upcoming NEWTs; and the clue for the second task. Shouldn't we work on them before worrying about Tom?"

Harry said, "Yes, but we can't keep putting off finding the Horcruxes forever; Tom could come back tomorrow and we can't kill him as longas the Horcruxes still exist."

Ginny said, "Okay, just for today we talk Horcruxes; but the rest of the week we revise for the NEWTs we start taking on Monday. After we finish the NEWTs, we work on the clue; we don't know when Tom will be back, but we do know the second task is February 24th.

Harry said, "Agreed.

So here's what I'm thinking; the only way to find the Horcruxes is to learn a lot more about Tom. We only know things he did up to the end of his sixth year; we need to learn what he did, how he thought, and how he felt about things after his sixth year. That might give us an ideas of what objects he might have made into Horcruxes, and where he might have hidden them to keep them safe."

Ginny asked, "How do we do that? Is there a book or newspaper archive that has a record of Tom's activities?"

Harry said, "I was thinking of Grimmauld Place. The Blacks believed in Pureblood superiority, and Sirius' brother actually was a Death Eater. Maybe Regulus or his parents kept news clippings, or Regulus kept notes or a journal and they were left in the house after he was killed.

We have access there, Sirius may even help us; he's not working so he has time to help."

Ginny said, "Okay, let's flue over and ask; we can even look around today, but tomorrow it's back to NEWTs revising."

Sirius told them since he ran away from the Black home when he was sixteen he personally didn't know anything about notes or clippings on Voldemort; but he offered to let Harry and Ginny search the house as long as he was with them.

He said, "The place is loaded with cursed items, poisons, and magical traps of all types. You both could be hurt or killed by touching the wrong thing."

Ginny said, "We only have a few hours today; tomorrow we're revising for our NEWTs."

Harry added, "But we can come back in a few weeks after our NEWTs and once we've looked at the egg for the second task clue."

Sirius said, "Well, if we don't have a lot of time, let's start in my brother's room; that's the most likely place to find something."

When they opened the door, the room was deep with dust and cobwebs and Sirius yelled, "That bloody house elf hasn't cleaned anything in years. Kreacher, get up here right now."

The creepy looking elf popped into the room and said, "Master called Kreacher and Kreacher came." Then quietly, he mumbled, "Even if Kreacher is ashamed of serving a filthy blood-traitor like master Sirius."

Sirius said, "Kreacher, we're looking for any notes or news clippings that Regulus had about Voldemort. Do you know of anything Regulus had that involved Voldemort."

Kreacher didn't answer; but by seeing how he was wringing his hands and looking away, Sirius could tell Kreacher knew something.

Sirius said, "Kreacher, I order you to tell me about, and give to me anything that Regulus had that involves Voldemort."

Kreacher whispered, "Master Regulus ordered Kreacher not to tell anyone in the family about what he ordered Kreacher to do."

Sirius said, "I am you master now and I order you to tell me everything you know about Voldemort."

Kreacher began to shake and sob as he told the story of how Regulus died to get a gold locket. Kreacher ended with, "Master Regulus' last words were to tell Kreacher to destroy the Dark Lord's locket. Kreacher tried every way Kreacher could to destroy the locket; but nothing Kreacher could do harmed it."

Sirius said, "Where is the locket now? Kreacher, I order you to take us to the locket."

Kreacher led them to the sitting room. In the corner was a glass cabinet and Kreacher pointed to the locket sitting on the fourth shelf. Sirius did several spells around the locket and said, "There's no curses on it; at least none that I can detect."

He opened the cabinet and took out the locket; nothing happened and he said, "I guess it's safe."

As he handed it to Harry, he asked, "It's not notes or clippings; but could this help you with whatever it is you two are doing."

As soon as Harry touched it, he could feel the soul fragment. He set it down on a table and said, "Ginny, it's another one; I can feel him."

Ginny stepped back and Sirius asked, "Are you going to explain what this is all about?"

Harry said, "Ginny, I think we need to tell him; we need help with this."

She answered, "Alright, I think you're right. Can we make tea first; I need something to calm my nerves."

They went to the kitchen and put the kettle on. Harry asked, "When will Remus be back? I think he could help to; after all, he did teach DADA."

Sirius looked at his watch and said, "He should be home any minute; he has a part time job in a Muggle store. I told him he could stay here for free and didn't have to work, but he insists on giving me money for food."

Remus arrived just as they were pouring the tea; Ginny got him a cup as Harry started the story of the Horcruxes, including the diary. When Harry finished, Sirius said, "I never heard of a Horcrux; what about you Remus?"

Remus said, "I've heard the term, it's very dark magic; but I don't know any more about them."

Harry added, "We're pretty sure there are four more. The most important thing is to figure out how to destroy it; I used a Basilisk fang on the diary, but I'm fresh out of them."

Lupin said, "Let's try a Blasting curse, or Severing curse, or Flame curse."

Lupin and Sirius tried them all and a few others; but nothing seemed to even scratch the locket.

Lupin said, "It's protected by some powerful charms. The Black library has dozens of books on dark magic; let's start looking for information on Horcruxes."

Hours later, they still hadn't found any references on Horcruxes and Harry said, "It's late, we're going to take it back to Potter Manor and lock it up. If you two can keep looking here; we'll look through our library and see if we have anything on it."

They searched all the next day and found nothing; finally Ginny said, "We're wasting time; let's drop it for now, it's safe where it is. We need to revise; NEWTs are going to be harder than OWLs."

They took their NEWTs the following week and Harry wanted to go back to the Horcrux, but Ginny insisted they look at the golden egg clue for at least a day or two. She said, "It's December, before you know it,Christmas will be past and the second task will be looming; who knows how long it will take to solve the clue."

Harry said, "Fine, just one last thing on the Horcrux. I don't like the idea; but who do we know that is the greatest wizard of our time, knows more about curses and magic than anyone else, and also knew Tom Riddle personally?"

She said, "You don't mean go to Dumbledore I hope. He'll try again to capture us; we can't trust him. Besides, we don't know if he even knows about Horcruxes; much less how to destroy one."

Harry said, "What if we don't tell him it's a Horcrux? He did see the diary; what if we write him a letter just saying we found another object like the diary and ask if he's interested in seeing the new object. Then we wait to see what he says or does; maybe he'll give himself away by telling us it's a Horcrux."

Ginny said, "We'll have to word it carefully, and if he asks to see it, we can't take it there or he'll try something."

Harry said, "Well we can't bring him here; if he wants to see it, we pick a neutral place with lots of people around to stop him from trying anything. Agreed?"

Ginny said, "Agreed. Let's write the letter, then look at the egg."

The next morning, Hedwig arrived at the Headmaster's office. She perched and waited for a reply.

Headmaster

We recently found an interesting object that is similar to the diary Lucius Malfoy slipped into Ginny's cauldron her first year. We came to the conclusion it needs to be destroyed; but lacking a Basilisk fang we are unsure of how to proceed. We hope you can suggestion an alternate method.

Hedwig will wait until tomorrow morning for your response. If you do not know how to help, please just send a note with Hedwig and we will seek other sources of information.

Harry Potter

Ginny Weasley


	10. Chapter 10 - The Yule Ball

Chapter X – The Yule Ball

Dumbledore read the letter three times to be sure. They claimed to have a Horcrux. No, they didn't use the term Horcrux; they said an object like the diary. Did saying it was like the diary mean they knew what it was? Perhaps they didn't know what a Horcrux was; they didn't know the diary contained a piece of Voldemort's soul. They simple knew because the diary was dangerous, another object like the diary would also be dangerous.

But how did they know it was like the diary? Could one of them have been possessed again? Or could one or both of them feel the dark magic? The only way to know was to meet with them and to see the Horcrux himself.

But would they trust him. He would have to write a letter showing interest, but not telling them too much about the Horcrux, or too much about what he knew about Tom's Horcruxes in particular.

While they waited for Dumbledore's response, they decided to take a first look at the clue to the second task that the ministry officials said was inside the golden egg. When they opened it, the emitted a loud screeching noise; Harry quickly closed the egg and said, "From Tom's memories, I recognize that it's something in Mermish; but Tom didn't speak Mermish. We'll have to make it understandable."

Ginny said, "The easiest thing to do is use the indoor pool."

Even though they slept together for more than a year, and snogged regularly, Harry and Ginny agreed they were too young to go any farther than snogging for now. However, they had seen each other naked many times after accidentally walking in on each other unexpectedly in the bedroom or loo.

Harry remembered the first time he accidentally walked into the loo while Ginny was in the shower; it was the first week in August, just after she had moved in with him and he wasn't used to her showering there. She had just turned off the water so he didn't realize she was in there when he entered the loo.

He was standing in front of the john and just started to go when she opened the shower door and stepped out starkers just five feet from him. When he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head to see what it was. Surprised to see her naked, he kept staring; she was just as surprised and looked down at what he was doing.

After a few seconds, both realized what happened. She squeaked and jumped back in the shower closing the door; he stammered, "Ginny, I'm sorry, I didn't intend to see you that way; I didn't know you were in here."

From the shower she said, "I'm sorry to Harry, I didn't hear you come in. I didn't lock the door because at home, we only have one loo for all seven of us kids. We leave it unlocked because someone always has to go when someone else is in the shower."

He answered, "I understand, remember I stayed at the Burrow a couple of weeks. I suppose we will just have to remember that there are two of us using this loo and lock the door."

Two days later, Harry thought Ginny was in the library going over Tom's memories and he came out of the shower into the bedroom naked because he was in a hurry and forgot to take his clean clothes in the loo with him. He was starkers in the middle of the bedroom when she walked in.

Both of them blushed, Harry turned his back to her and said, "I thought you were downstairs, sorry."

She said, "I was, but I left my parchment and quills up here and needed them to finish the summer assignment for McGonagall. I didn't expect you to be walking around starkers.

Nice bum by the way."

He said, "This is the second time this happened in three days, and it will probably happen again since we're living here together. What do you think we should do?"

She said, "We can be more careful, but unless I move into one of the other bedrooms, there's nothing we can do to totally prevent it from happening again. I don't want to move, we've been sleeping together for nearly a year, and I like it. I don't want to go back to having nightmares.

Listen Harry, physically I may be only thirteen and you fourteen; but mentally we're seventeen. We agreed we're too young to do more than snog and cuddle; but we should be mature enough that when something like this happens, we can just say sorry and not get all flustered."

Harry said, "You're right; we're not trying to see each other naked, so let's just ignore these accidental encounters."

That's what they did, and after a number of such incidents over the past four months, they began to take seeing each other naked from time to time as normal.

Now that they knew that they needed to put the egg under water, Harry asked, "Want to run up to the bedroom to change into swimsuits?"

Ginny answered, "Why bother, we're not staying in the water very long; just long enough to hear the clue."

They both slipped out of their clothes, jumped in the pool with the egg, and submerged.

Underwater, the screeching became a song. They listened several times until they memorized the words; then got out of the pool, dried off, and redressed.

Ginny said, "Looks like the Merpeople are going to take something you think is valuable and you have to get it back in less than an hour."

Harry said, "Yes, but that leaves a lot of questions. What will they take? How will they take it? All my things are here and the Merpeople can't get here."

Ginny said, "I think the ministry officials will probably take whatever it is, they're organizing the tournament. The Merpeople are just going to hold it until you come for it. That means it will be under water and you'll have to swim to get there."

Harry said, "The ministry officials can't get in here either; so how will they get something of mine?"

Ginny said, "That's not important, it's their problem. What do you think about the where, the Black Lake?"

Harry thought for a moment and said, "If I have up to an hour to retrieve it, the Black Lake is the only large body of water near the castle that would make it take that long. It also means I'll have to find a way to breath under water for an hour."

Ginny said, "That's the important part, how to breath. It really doesn't matter what they take or how, or what water it's in, though I agree it's probably the Black lake."

Harry said, "Okay then, first priority is finding a way to breath under water. Let's hit the library."

They barely walked into the library when Hedwig arrived with Dumbledore's answer.

Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley

I would be interested in seeing another object like the diary since I was unable to learn much about the diary considering how badly the Basilisk fang had damaged it. If you could bring this new object here, I would be happy to examine it and eventually destroy it for you.

I would of course tell you everything I learned from my examination of the object. There is no need to make an appointment to bring it in; you may stop by my office any time."

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

Hogwarts School

Ginny asked, "Do you think he's been drinking? He expects us to come to his office, leave the Horcrux with him, trust him to destroy it, and not try to hold us captive again."

Harry said, "I'm more interested in the fact he said he wants to study it. Does that really mean he doesn't know what the diary was; or he's keeping secrets again and he doesn't want to tell us what he knows?

What do you say? Another letter, this time making clear our terms to let him see it."

Ginny said, "Sirius and Remus haven't got back to us; and we didn't find a thing about Horcruxes. All we can do is try to get Dumbledore to tell us something; but we make things clear this time."

Dumbledore was doing paperwork when Hedwig arrived; she dropped the letter on Dumbledore's desk and left.

Headmaster

Ginny and I have not been Confunded and we're too young to drink; so there is no way we will come to your office or hand the object over to you. We will eventually find a way to destroy it on our own; but we would prefer to do it as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, if you know a way to destroy such an object now, we are willing to meet with you in a public place. You tell us how to destroy it; and we allow you to see and examine the object before we destroy it.

Your examination must occur at the meet, you cannot take the object. If you bring anyone with you or we see anyone else like at Trafalgar Square, we will leave and you will never see the object or any of Tom's other objects like it that we know to exist.

Meet us at noon in the Three Broomsticks; or don't, it's your choice.

Harry and Ginny

Dumbledore checked his watch, it was half nine. He had just over two hours to decide what to do, meet their demands as stated, or send for Snape and Shackelbolt to wait at the Three Broomsticks in some disguise.

He looked at the letter again; they admitted they knew there were other Horcruxes. Even if they didn't know the term Horcrux, he realized they had to know what the objects were.

He would have to go alone and try to win back their trust; the option of controlling Harry was gone. They knew too much and had too much power to be controlled; but perhaps he could still guide them.

At noon, Dumbledore walked into the Three Broomsticks; there were about twenty people at the bar and various tables. Harry and Ginny were at a corner table; he walked over and Harry said, "Have a seat Headmaster."

Before he sat, he pulled his wand, but Harry said, "If you got you wand out to cast privacy wards, we already did them; if you have any other intention, we're ready to defend ourselves."

Dumbledore put his wand away, sat, and asked, "Where is the object?"

Harry said, "First, give us a reason to trust you; tell us what you know about Tom, his objects, and how to destroy them."

Dumbledore hesitated and finally said, "You haven't listened to anything I've told you for months; and you disrespected me and your other teachers. Why are you asking me to help you now; and why should I?" 

Harry answered, "Because we both want the same thing; Voldemort dead. Ginny and I, and others willing to help me, will eliminate Tom eventually; but you know we will be able to do it more quickly with your help."

Dumbledore stared at Harry and said nothing for some time before Ginny stood up and said, "Let's go Harry; if his pride is so wounded he'd rather see Tom still around than help us, we'll have to do it on our own."

Dumbledore said, "No, don't go; I'll tell you what I know. As you know, Tom was into the darkest of dark magic; what you may not know is how deeply he feared death."

Ginny said, "We know that; and what he decided to do to prevent his death. What we want to know is if you can tell us how to destroy his objects and eventually destroy him."

Dumbledore asked, "Do you know what the objects are and what they're called?"

Harry answered, "They're called Horcruxes; and they contain a part of his soul. The diary was the first one he made, but not the last. Now tell us how to destroy one."

Dumbledore said, "Normal curses and spells won't work on them. They're protected by strong wards and possibly curses; there are only three ways to destroy one.

A curse breaker can peel away the protections, one at a time until the object is no longer protected. Then there are several spells that can destroy it. The problem with this method is it can take many hours, even days, to undo all the protections, and if the curse breaker misses something, a trap could set off the protections killing everyone nearby.

The second way is Basilisk venom as you used on the diary. I don't have any, and it is illegal to buy without a Potions Master's license from the ministry; even with a license, it is hard to find and very expensive.

The third method is Fiendfyre which is hard to produce and harder to control if you can produce it. It is also a curse prohibited by the ministry punishable by large fines and prison time."

Harry said, "Very well Headmaster, now we'll keep our end of the bargain."

Harry waved toward the bar and two men walked over; one asked, "Is he playing nice?"

Harry said, "So far, sit and show it to him."

The men sat and one pulled a golden locket from his robes; he set the locket on the table and pushed it across to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked at the locket, then back to the men. He said, "Nice use of Glamour charms to change appearance. Sirius, Remus, I see Harry trusts you both."

They removed the Glamour charms and returned to their normal appearance. Sirius said, "They have to be able to trust someone; too bad it can't be their teachers."

Dumbledore looked hurt, but said nothing; instead, he picked up the locket.

After looking it over he said, "This is Slytherin's locket; I've seen pictures of it."

Ginny said, "We know, it wasn't a surprise. Tom is the heir of Slytherin; it's why he's a Parseltongue and left the diary to open Slytherin's chamber."

Harry asked, "Can you feel the soul fragment in it; it feels cold and dark. It's not a good idea to touch it for any length of time; you know what the diary did."

Dumbledore set it down and said, "You implied there were more Horcruxes; how do you know?"

Ginny answered, "The fragment of Tom that possessed me already had plans to make more Horcruxes. While he was in my mind, I could sense he wanted to split his soul into seven pieces because he thought seven was the most powerful magical number and it would give him maximum protection from death."

Harry continued, "After the diary, we now know he did make at least one more, this locket, and we're pretty sure, but not positive, he went on to complete his plan to make six Horcruxes. That means there are probably four more out there somewhere and we're willing to admit we'll need help finding and destroying them.

Do you know for sure how many he made?"

Dumbledore said, "No, like you I believe he made six but I'm not sure. However, I might know someone that can verify our guess of six."

Ginny said, "Someone else? We figured you knew Tom as a student, and know quite a bit about Tom as an adult; at least you know more about him that anyone else. We have to be sure there are only four more, figure out what the other objects are, and where he hid them, and destroy them. We think you can help."

Harry jumped back into the conversation with, "But first, we have to trust you. We think you want to eliminate Tom as much as we do.

Do you know anything about Tom that would help us destroy him?"

Dumbledore said, "You are correct that I know more about him than anyone else, even more than his most trusted Death Eaters."

Harry asked, "Are you willing to share this information with us?"

Dumbledore asked, "Are you willing to share what you know and allow me to help you?"

When they discussed going to Dumbledore, they knew he would want to be part of the hunt for the Horcruxes, and that he would not give them his information without asking for whatever information they knew.

Ginny said, "We agree to share information and let you help get and destroy the Horcruxes; as long as you are honest with us and don't try to confine us or control our lives.

Agreed?"

Dumbledore said, "I agree.

The best place to do this is in my office; that's where the Pensive memories about Tom that I've collected over the years are stored."

Harry said, "No, at least not until we're sure we can trust you. Until then, we meet at Grimmauld Place; I'll bring my father's Pensive, you bring the memories of Tom. In time, once you prove to us that we can trust you fully, then we can talk about meeting in your office."

They could see Dumbledore wasn't happy; but he said, "I agree; when do you want to meet?"

Harry said, "We're busy with other things, but we can meet tonight at eight. After tonight we'll have to see how the other projects we're working on are proceeding."

Dumbledore said, "May I ask what other projects you are working on? Perhaps I can help you with other matters."

Ginny answered, "We're still training to face Tom like we did last year. We run, lift weights, do dueling practice with magic, also Muggle Martial Arts, and are learning to use Muggle weapons like guns. We read advanced books on magic to learn new spells, and of course research Tom's life. You can help us research Tom's life; the rest we prefer to do on our own."

Harry added, "Don't forget preparing for the second task and dance lessons for the Yule Ball; we've only practiced dancing a few times so far."

Ginny said, "Don't worry about dancing Harry, you're doing fine; you haven't stepped on my toes the last two lessons. By the ball, you'll be the best boy dancer there."

Dumbledore said, "Your distrust of me is holding you back; I can teach you a great deal about magic and dueling."

Harry said, "As I said, in time, once we trust you fully, then we can talk about you helping us in other areas."

Dumbledore said, "Very well, we meet tonight at eight. Is there anything else you want to ask before I leave?"

Ginny said, "Yes, we need to go into the castle for maybe an hour without you trying to hold us there."

Dumbledore said, "Would you tell me why?"

Ginny said, "Because, while we were sitting here talking, I just realized that we do know where to get Basilisk venom to destroy a Horcrux; that is if it hasn't rotted away by now."

Harry looked at her, then laughed and said, "Yes we do; I can't believe I was so stupid not to think of it."

Five people were standing in the second floor girls' loo; Harry asked, "Are you all sure you want to come down with us? It's pretty filthy down there."

Everyone wanted to go; so, in Parseltongue, Harry told the sink to open. One by one, they jumped down and landed on the small animal bones at the bottom. Harry led the way to the chamber opening the final doors.

The body of the Basilisk looked as if it had just died, and Ginny said, "I thought after a year and a half it would be decayed."

Dumbledore replied, "It's full of venom; not just the fangs, even Basilisk blood is poisonous. Scavengers, bacteria, and even fungus won't grow on it for years until the venom loses its potency. Actually, we should harvest other parts besides the venom; Basilisk potion ingredients are almost impossible to get and quite valuable."

Harry said, "You can do that headmaster, Ginny and I would want our share of any money put in the school fund to help orphans and other poor students buy their books and other necessary school items.

For now, let's take care of business; Ginny put the locket on the floor."

As she did, from the floor where he dropped it that day, Harry picked up the fang he used on the diary. He knelt in front of the locket and said in Parseltongue, "Open."

The locket opened, and a black spirit rose from it. The spirit took the shape of Ginny and said, "Please Harry, he's been holding me in here all this time. He's been hiding in my body; you have to kill him so I can be freed."

The form held her arms out and continued, "Hold me Harry; I've missed you so much."

Harry hesitated; he looked from the form of Ginny coming out of the locket to the Ginny standing next to him.

The Ginny next to him said, "Don't listen to him Harry; you know I'm real; you've been with me for the last year and a half, you know I'm the real Ginny."

The locket Ginny said, "No Harry, I'm the real Ginny. I've been trapped here waiting for you to save me. You have to kill her to release me."

Harry raised the fang and stabbed down on the locket. The form of Ginny changed into the form of an older Tom Riddle and screamed; then it dissipated into the air.

Ginny hugged Harry and said, "I knew would do the right thing."

He said, "It wasn't that hard; I could see the locket and always knew it's his soul tied to the Horcrux, not yours. Him changing to look like you just surprised me for a few seconds."

Dumbledore said, "Perhaps we should take another fang or two for when we find other Horcruxes and get out of the chamber. I will arrange for a potions team to harvest the Basilisk remains."

Once they were back in the loo, Dumbledore said, "Harry, I will notify you when the potions team can be here; we'll need you to open the chamber.

I will see you tonight at eight to view some of the memories I've collected about Tom."

Sirius and Lupin returned to Grimmauld Place, Harry and Ginny to Potter Manor.

At half seven, with his Pensive shrunken down for easy transport, Harry and Ginny flued to Grimmauld Place to wait for Dumbledore.

They set up the enlarged Pensive on a stand in the sitting room and were ready when Dumbledore arrived at eight. Ginny had a large piece of parchment hanging from the wall with a list of what they knew.

Tom's Horcruxes – 6 ?

Object

1\. Tom's diary

2\. Slytherin's locket 3. Unknown object? 4. Unknown object?

5\. Unknown object?

6\. Unknown object?

Location kept Lucius Malfoy - House Cave by the sea

unknown location

unknown location unknown location

unknown location

Status

Destroyed 6/19/1992 Destroyed 12/20/1994 Existing

Existing

Existing

Existing

When Dumbledore arrived, he said, "I brought two memories about Tom's early life. I thought it best to show things in chronological order rather than jumping back and forth through his life. These two will take over an hour to view and I thought we would need time after that to discuss them."

The first memory was from a ministry wizard who came to a rundown shack owned by the Gaunt family to investigate an attack on a Muggle. As soon as it finished, they viewed the second memory which was Dumbledore's own of his visit to tell eleven-year-old Tom Riddle that he was a wizard.

Harry and Ginny of course had Tom's version of the memory of Dumbledore's visit already in their heads. Their problem was they hadn't bothered to transfer it from Tom's to their own minds. They had been concentrating on transferring Tom's magical knowledge, and they ignored his personal childhood memories as unimportant.

When the second memory from the Pensive ended, Ginny said, "I need to ask Harry something; can we take a short break before we start discussing what we viewed? Perhaps we can move to the kitchen and have tea."

Sirius, Lupin, and Dumbledore left for the kitchen; Dumbledore was thinking Harry and Ginny were keeping something secret. Did they already know something about another Horcrux; maybe the two memories showed them something he hadn't seen.

Ginny said, "Harry, we need to transfer Tom's memory of Dumbledore's visit to him and compare it to what we just saw. Maybe knowing what Tom thought of Dumbledore and magic will give us a clue."

Harry agreed and they took a few minutes to review Tom memory of Dumbledore's visit before joining the others in the kitchen.

Dumbledore started the discussion stressing what he thought was important. From the first memory, Dumbledore stressed the presence of the locket that showed Tom's family's pride at being pure blood descendants of Slytherin even though they were impoverished, he also noted a ring that showed them to be related to the Peverell family, and Tom's mother's attraction to Tom Riddle Sr..

Dumbledore asked, "Did this memory give any of you an idea about another Horcrux besides the locket?"

Harry answered, "Maybe the ring. He made the locket a Horcrux because he was proud of being Slytherin's heir. I never heard of the Peverell family, but he could be proud enough of being their descendant to use the ring."

Ginny was sitting quietly, quickly scanning for any memory Tom had about his family while Sirius and Lupin both said they never heard of the Peverells either. Suddenly she found one of Tom in the Gaunt house talking to a scruffy old man, his uncle Morfin.

She said, "The three brothers; the Peverells are the three brothers. At least Tom believed so and that he was the descendant of one of them."

Everyone looked at her and Dumbledore said, "Very good Miss Weasley. Many people believe just what you said; I know the Gaunts did because years after the memory we just saw I talked about it with the son, Morfin."

Dumbledore wondered how Ginny figured that out; he concluded that Harry and Ginny were still keeping secrets from him.

He asked, "How did you know the Peverells were the three brothers Miss Weasley?"

Ginny realized she had said too much and tried to rationalize her words, "When Tom possessed me, and I was writing in the diary, one time he mentioned that tale. It just hit me when you mentioned the Peverells."

Dumbledore sensed that she was not telling the truth, but let it go for now.

Harry asked, "Who are the three brothers? I never heard about them either."

Lupin said, "The three brothers are a magical fairy tale; being raised by your Muggle aunt, you would have never heard the story. I heard it a hundred times, but I never thought it was real, it's just a story."

Dumbledore said, "Most stories, even fairy tales have some basis in fact. From my research, I discovered the Peverell brothers were in fact powerful wizards, well known in their time. Fantastic stories often develop among people who see something they can't comprehend. These stories get distorted over time; perhaps real events during the lives of the three Peverells were forged into the Tale of the Three Brothers."

Ginny said, "It doesn't matter if the story is true; if the Gaunts believed it and valued the ring, Tom would believe and also value the ring. I bet he did make it into a Horcrux."

Dumbledore said, "I know he had the ring at one point; I have another memory that shows him wearing it, but it comes later in the chronological order and I didn't bring it today."

Harry said, "Do you have any idea of where the ring is now?"

Dumbledore said, "Yes, it's a long shot; but I think one that's worth looking into. When could you two come with me?"

Harry said, "We have appointments every day this week; Monday next week is open."

Dumbledore asked, "Would nine in the morning be okay? It may take a few hours so a good breakfast would be advisable."

Harry said, "We'll meet you at Hogwarts' front gate."

Ginny got up and changed the chart.

Tom's Horcruxes – 6 ?

Object 1. Tom's diary

2\. Slytherin's locket 3. Peverell ring ? 4. Unknown object?

5\. Unknown object?

6\. Unknown object ?

Location kept Lucius Malfoy - House ? Cave by the sea Gaunt house ?

unknown location unknown location

unknown location

Status

Destroyed 6/19/1992 Destroyed 12/20/1994 Existing

Existing

Existing

Existing

Dumbledore went on to the second memory, that included Tom already having control of his magic before starting school, Tom not fitting in with other children and using magic to hurt others, and Tom collecting things from the children he hurt as trophies of his victories over the children.

Dumbledore left, and Sirius asked, "What do you two know that you didn't want to say in front of Dumbledore?"

Ginny said, "We have a few ideas we need to put together before we can tell; it may mean nothing."

Harry said, "We have to go to Gringotts tomorrow, and to the ministry the next day. Give us those two days to talk and over the weekend we'll tell you if anything fits together."

When they got back to Potter Manor, Harry asked, "Okay Ginny, what did you come up with about these three brothers?"

She said, "When you and Dumbledore started talking about the ring, I began looking through more of Tom's memories for anything about a ring. I found two places in his memory; but I didn't have time to examine them thoroughly with everyone there talking.

One is in the summer before he made the diary and the other in the winter just a month before he made the diary. Let's find them and look at them more thoroughly."

The summer memory was disgusting. It was about Tom attacking his uncle Morfin, taking Morfin's wand, and using it to kill his father and grandparents. Tom took the ring and left the wand so Morfin would be blamed for the murders.

The winter memory was about a dinner with a teacher named Slughorn. Tom was wearing the ring and playing with it on his finger. After the dinner, Tom asked Slughorn about Horcruxes.

Slughorn gave him a general description of what a Horcrux was; but Tom's memory showed he already knew all about Horcruxes. What he was waiting for was a chance to ask Slughorn if it was possible to make more than one Horcrux, actually to split your soul into seven pieces and make six Horcruxes.

They could see in Tom's mind his plan to make the diary into one and ring another.

Harry said, "I think we made a mistake by skipping over Tom's personal memories; there could be more useful information about his ideas on Horcruxes and where to hide them."

Ginny said, "It wasn't exactly a mistake. We had limited time, so we concentrated on what was most useful to us, his magical knowledge. But I agree we need to look into his personal memories starting with just before he made the diary and going backward. I don't think his memories from when he was five or six would be as likely to help as much as the memories from his teens when he was already plotting things.

It too late to start today, we need to get some sleep, we have to meet Griphook and that other Goblin tomorrow at nine and we don't know how long that meeting will run."

Harry asked, "Do you think this Professor Slughorn is the person Dumbledore referred to that might be able to confirm the theory of six Horcruxes?"

Ginny answered, "I think so, Tom's memory shows they talked about making six; I doubt Tom talked to many others about that topic."

Harry said, "We won't be able to tell if he did at some time later than the memories we have to go on."

The meeting with Griphook and Goldenrune took three hours; they had lunch at a Muggle place just outside Diagon Alley then returned to Potter Manor. They practiced dancing for an hour, then Ginny went through the personal memories of Tom's sixth year and Harry the memories of the summer before when he killed his relatives.

The next day, the last day of class before Christmas break at Hogwarts, McGonagall flued to Potter Manor with their NEWTs scores. Again, they had all outstandings and McGonagall asked how they could do that as fourth and third years. Again, all they would say was that they studied hard.

As soon as McGonagall left, they flued to the ministry to file emancipation papers, which took hours; then they asked for a hearing before the committee that handled such matters. The clerk said they would be notified by owl when the date for the hearing was set.

Saturday was spent going over Tom's memories from his fifth year and the summer before. These memories showed when Tom first learned of Horcruxes and decided to make one. They decided they wouldn't learn anything important about Horcruxes by going farther back in Tom's memories.

Sunday, they met with Sirius and Lupin to tell them what they learned from putting together Dumbledore's Pensive memories and Tom's memories. They concluded that Tom did finish the six Horcruxes because all his memories were adamant about doing it; and that the ring was one of them.

Monday at nine, they met Dumbledore at the gates to Hogwarts and he said, "Each of you take an arm, I'll guide you to where I think the ring is hidden."

Harry said, "Tom's mother's family's house, right. He took the ring from there and put it back there after making the Horcrux."

Dumbledore smiled and said, "I believe so; but we shouldn't be disappointed if it's not there. Now take my arms."

They arrived on the road just outside of the Gaunt house and slowly moved closer.

Harry said, "There's a lot of residual magic around here."

Ginny added, "Dark magic, it is here, I can feel the soul fragment."

Dumbledore remained silent; he wanted to hear what they were saying in order to learn more about their powers.

Harry said, "Stop, there are wards closer to the house; Muggle repelling charms and an anti-wizard trap in Parseltongue that calls Adders from the surrounding woods."

He closed his eyes and held his hands out toward the house. He was mumbling first in Latin then in Parseltongue for over a minute before saying in English, "Alright, we're clear up to the house, but we'll have to be careful opening the door."

From five feet away, Ginny extended her arm and the door swung inward. She said, "More wards inside; Confundus charms and a trigger charm connected to poison gas."

She cast spells in Latin, then said, "It didn't work, the charms are still active."

She cast more spells in Greek this time, then said, "Okay, I hope Greek and Latin are the only languages Tom used; he could have learned a dozen others after he got out of Hogwarts and I'd be lost."

Dumbledore thought, they only know Latin and Greek; that could be useful later.

Once they entered the house all three extended their senses to look for the Horcrux. All sensed it under the floorboards and moved closer. Ginny said, "I'll levitate the boards off from here incase removing them sets off another trap. Harry, if nothing goes wrong, you levitate the Horcrux out."

No trap went off and soon, a box was floating in mid air. Harry made the top open and they saw the ring inside; Harry let the box sink to the floor and kept the ring floating. He said, "What does everyone think?"

Ginny and Dumbledore both cast sensory spells on the ring and at the same time said, "Compulsion charm and Mortification curse."

Dumbledore said, "You are both quite advance with you magic; what do you think we should do next?"

Harry said, "If we get closer without cancelling the Compulsion charm, I imagine it will force us to put the ring on so the Mortification curse kills us; so we have to remove the Compulsion charm."

He closed his eyes and chanted in Latin, then Greek. He said, "It didn't work; either it's a variation of the charm I don't know, or it's in another language, or both."

Dumbledore held his hand out and remained silent for several minutes; then he grunted and said, "Miss Weasley, I wish your brother William were home; it's an Ancient Egyptian spell. I recognize the language, but I'm unfamiliar with the curse and am unable to break it."

Harry said, "I'll put the ring back in the box, wrap it in a shield charm, and we'll take it home until either we learn how to break the charm or Bill comes home for a visit."

Dumbledore said, "Perhaps I should keep it at Hogwarts; it would be safer."

Ginny said, "Like the Philosopher's Stone was safe there? I think we'll keep it; you couldn't get to us all last summer, and I don't think anyone else will be able to either."

They Apparated away with the ring leaving Dumbledore to consider his next move. He had learned something about their power and skills; now how best to use this knowledge to influence and guide them?

Next morning, Harry and Ginny went to the ministry to see Mr. Weasley and arranged with him for them to come to the Burrow for Christmas Eve after the Yule Ball ended so they would be there Christmas morning to open presents with the family.

At his suggestion, they flued to the Burrow to talk with Mrs. Weasley. She was pleasant, welcoming them to come with a promise not to interfere with their lives. She was upset when they insisted on sleeping together in Ginny's old room, but after they threatened not to stay, but to return to Potter Manor, she relented.

Christmas Eve, they dressed at Potter Manor and Apparated to the main gate of Hogwarts rather than fluing and getting their dress robes sooty. Flitwick met them and led them to the champions waiting area. The plan was to have all the other students seated, then the champions and their dates would be formally announced as they entered.

Dumbledore started with, "Our first champion is Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons Academy, Miss Delacour is escorted by Roger Davis."

When Fleur and Roger reached the head table, Dumbledore said, "Our second champion is Viktor Krum from Durmstrang Institute and his companion Hermione Granger."

While Dumbledore waited for them to reach the head table, Harry asked, "Why didn't you tell me Hermione was going with Krum? I assumed Ron would have asked her."

Ginny giggled and said, "You actually thought Ron, my brother Ron, would have enough nerve to ask her."

Harry answered, "Well he's fancied her for years, everyone knew that."

Ginny said, "And in all those years that you knew him, did you ever see him make one move to let her know how he felt about her?"

Harry said, "No, I just thought the ball would give him a chance to build up enough nerve."

Dumbledore said, "Our third champion is Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and his companion Cho Chang."

Ginny interlocked her arm with Harry and was ready when Dumbledore said, "Our forth champion is Harry Potter from the Independent British School of Magic and his companion Ginevra Weasley."

Harry and Ginny reached the head table and found that the seat next to theirs was occupied by Percy.

Ginny asked, "What are you doing here?"

Percy said, "I'm the assistant to Mr. Crouch, the Head of International Magical Cooperation; he's feeling ill and asked me to sit in for him.

Ginevra, I am told you left home this summer to live with Potter; and that you quit school."

Ginny said, "If you didn't act like such a pompous arse to your family, you'd know the truth about what Harry and I are doing. But since you are a huge arse, I won't bother to correct you."

She turned away from Percy and started talking to Harry, and Percy turned the other way and started talking to Professor Vector on his other side.

The meal ended and the tables were cleared of dishes. Dumbledore stood and said, "Everybody please stand for a moment."

When everyone was up, Dumbledore wave his hand and the tables rearranged to the edges of the room leaving a large dance area.

Dumbledore said, "The champions and their partners will please move to the dance floor to begin the festivities; everyone else please be seated."

The four couples spread apart on the floor; Harry and Ginny took each other's hands and got in position to dance. The first song started and they started to waltz around the room.

Soon other couple came out and joined in the dance.

Harry and Ginny did seven dances in a row before Harry asked, "Ginny, would you like to take a break and have a drink?"

She said, "I'll find two seats, would you get a Butterbeer for me."

Harry got two Butterbeers and found Ginny sitting with Neville and Hannah Abbot. They talked a while, then Harry asked, "Ginny, would you like to dance again."

The evening went quickly with the couple alternating between dancing several songs, taking a short break, and returning to dance more. Harry danced one dance with Hermione while Ginny danced with Viktor. Ginny also did one dance each with Fred and George while Harry danced with their dates, Angelina and Alicia.

Just before midnight when the dance was to end, Harry and Ginny slipped away to McGonagall's office to flue to the Burrow before Dumbledore could try anything to hold them at Hogwarts. The boys flued home an hour later so the family could be together for Christmas morning.

After Christmas, they put some time in thinking about the second task and how Harry could breathe under water for an hour.

For New Year's Eve, Hermione, Ron, Fred, and George came to Potter Manor to celebrate. They had music, food, and non-alcoholic drinks from eight until almost midnight when Bandi gave one glass of champagne to everyone.

Bandi said, "Master Harry's grandparents always allowed Master Harry's father and friends one glass of champagne to celebrate the New Year; but that is all, nobody may have another. Drinks like this are not good for young humans and Bandi must protect Master and his friends above all else."

Everyone was watching the clock, a few seconds before midnight; Harry suddenly grabbed his head, screamed, and fell to the floor. Everyone rushed to him, Ginny held him and asked, "Harry, what's the matter?"

He didn't answer but kept moaning and squirming about on the floor.

Bandi came into the room and said, "Bandi felt Master Harry is not well; Bandi must help Master."

Hermione said, "We have to get medical help; we have to take him to St. Mungos."

Ginny said, "No, it's not safe; Ron, flue to Grimmauld Place and get Sirius and Lupin."

Ron ran to the fireplace and flued out. Nobody noticed that midnight had passed by the time Ron returned with Sirius and Lupin.

Harry had stopped moaning by then and they helped him off the floor onto a divan. Ginny continued to hold him and talk softly telling him she would stay with him.

Lupin did a few spells over Harry then said, "I'm not a healer, but with the couple of diagnostic spells I know, I can't find anything wrong with him."

Harry opened his eyes and said, "It's Voldemort, he's back, I saw him come back."

Everyone started talking until Sirius yelled, "Quiet, everyone shut up and give Harry a chance to explain.

First Harry, are you all right? You nearly scared everyone to death; tell us what happened as best as you can."

Harry said, "I was holding my glass of champagne looking at the clock when suddenly I was somewhere else. It was an old house and there were six people in black robes and white masks. One was holding what looked like a baby; but it was a hideous looking baby, when I looked at it I got a tremendous pain in my scar and almost hurled.

There was a large cauldron on a fire; it was steaming. The person threw the baby in the cauldron; at first, I thought they were killing and cooking it. Then another of the people chanted something and threw a bone into the cauldron, another chanted and poured in what looked like blood.

Each of them took a turn chanting and adding something to the cauldron. When the last one added something, the fire flared so bright the light blinded me; when I could see again, Voldemort was standing where the fire and cauldron had been.

He was naked, but one of the people brought him robes, another a wand that looked like it had a bone for its handle. Then he spoke; he told them to gather all his other Death Eaters because he was going to kill me then take over all of magical Britain.

All but one of the people left, that one brought food, and Voldemort began to eat. There was an enormous snake there, and after the Death Eaters were gone, it came near him and he talked to the snake in Parseltongue. He called it Nagini and ordered the snake to never go far from him. It made me shiver, there's something about the snake that bothered me."

Ginny asked, "Can a living thing be a Horcrux? Maybe that's what bothered you about it."

Harry said, "I don't know. We are fairly sure he made six Horcruxes, the diary, the locket, and the ring make only three. We'll have to check if an animal can be one; but we also need to figure out two others.

Anyway, after he talked to the snake, I was back here and all of you were looking at me."

Sirius said, "Are you sure what you saw was real, not just a dream?"

Harry said, "I told you before I had visions of Voldemort talking with a man about some plot to kill me. I think this is the start of what they were planning. Yes, I'm sure what I saw actually happened, he's back."

Ginny said, "It was Tom's birthday. He was born on New Year's Eve just before midnight so it makes sense he would pick that time to return, to hold a ritual re-birth ceremony."

Lupin said, "We have to tell Dumbledore. If Voldemort is back, Dumbledore is the one to organize against him."

Harry said, "You can tell him, I'm knackered and have a wicked headache. I'm going to bed; if Dumbledore wants to talk to me I can give him details tomorrow."

Everyone but Harry and Ginny left; they went to bed, but it was hours before they could fall asleep. The next day, Sirius returned and told them Dumbledore was at Grimmauld Place and wanted to talk with Harry. He flued over and spent two hours going over his vision with everyone.

On January 18th, McGonagall arrived with a notice from the ministry that their emancipation hearing would be at ten o'clock on January 25th in the hearing room of the licensing department.


	11. Chapter 11- The Second Task

Chapter XI – The Second Task

The morning of the hearing, they arrived at the ministry at nine, got their wands checked, and were in the waiting room with Mr. Weasley, McGonagall, and Griphook by half nine.

At ten, a man came out and showed them into the hearing room. On one side of a long table, five people were seated. The man showed Harry and Ginny to chairs at a smaller table; Mr. Weasley, McGonagall, and Griphook took seats behind Harry and Ginny.

The man in the center of the long table said, "This informational hearing is called on the petitions of Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley for emancipation. Are the petitioners present?"

They answered as McGonagall had coached them. Harry said, "Harry James Potter is present sir."

Ginny said, "Ginevra Molly Weasley is present sir."

The man said, "Both petitioners being present, the hearing will commence.

Mr. Potter, please tell the committee why you are seeking emancipation."

Madam Bones suggested not blaming Dumbledore since one of the committee members was good friends with the headmaster; and it wouldn't help to anger started his story by simply saying that his parents' wills were lost by the Department of Records. Because of that, the list of guardians designated by his parents was bypassed and he was placed with Muggle relatives who mistreated him.

He went on to tell how he studied in advance of his classes, passed his OWLs and NEWTs, and now wished to get a job so he could live independently so he didn't haveto go back to his Muggle aunt's house.

When Harry finished, the man said, "Ginevra Molly Weasley,please tell the committee why you are seeking emancipation."

Ginny explained how Harry saved her life and they became friends; how she studied with him in advance of her classes, was also able to pass her OWLs and NEWTs, and now she wanted to get a job and live independently.

The man asked, "Do your parents or guardians object to your emancipation?"

Harry answered, "I lived with Muggles who hate me; and are happy to get rid of me. I have a paper my Uncle Vernon signed stating he doesn't care where I go, as long as I don't go back to his house."

Harry held out the paper and the man that showed them into the room took it and gave it to the man running the hearing.

Ginny said, "My father is here and wishes to speak."

Mr. Weasley stood and the man said, "You may speak, first state your name for the record."

Mr. Weasley said, "My name is Arthur William Weasley, I'm Ginevra's father and I want to say I have no objection to her emancipation. I believe her to be mature enough to hold a job and live on her own."

Mr. Weasley sat down and the man said, "Who else wishes to speak on this case?"

McGonagall stood and said, "I am Minerva McGonagall, I am the transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts and head of Gryffindor House. Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley were both in my house and in my classes. I wish to say they are both intelligent and mature individuals and I believe they are quite able to hold jobs and live independently."

McGonagall sat and the man said, "Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, to become emancipated you need to hold jobs with salaries sufficient to support yourselves. Do you have proof of employment?"

Harry said, "We have brought my account manager, Master Goblin Griphook, from Gringotts to speak on that issue."

A woman dressed in all pink who had a face like a giant frog was sitting at the end of the table said, "This is a wizard hearing, Goblins have no place here."

Harry looked at the woman and said, "First let me say, Ginny and I resent that Griphook, a business associate and friend,has been spoken to so rudely."

Harry turned his eyes to the man running the hearing and continued, "Second, the questions we were asked are about our ability to hold jobs and support ourselves; Gringotts bank is intimately involved in both those questions. How are we to prove that we can do both unless Master Griphook is allowed to speak?"

The man said, "Goblin Griphook, you may address the committee."

Griphook stood and said, "I have been the account manager for the Potter family for sixty-three years and I can assure the committee that Lord Potter is financially secure for the rest of his life, even if he decides never to work.

However, he and Miss Weasley have applied for positions as apprentice curse breakers for Gringotts. They were interviewed by Goldenrune, the head Goblin of Gringotts curse breaking department. He found them to be exceptional for humans and has offered them apprentice positions supervised by him personally.

Their starting salaries are sufficient to live comfortably even without Lord Potter's estate."

Griphook sat down and the man asked, "Do any of the committee members have anything to say?"

The frog lady said, "I don't believe children who speak so rudely to a committee member show the maturity to be emancipated. And we have only the word of that Goblin that they will have jobs and be able to provide for living expenses. I think the committee would be wise to refuse the petition."

An older man spoke, "Mr. Potter was less than truthful about his guardian not objecting to emancipation. The uncle he spoke of is only his Muggle guardian; his magical guardian, Albus Dumbledore strongly objects to emancipation.

All the committee members know Dumbledore, what he has done for the Wizarding world, and trust his judgment. I believe the committee should vote to reject the petition and order Mr. Potter to return to the custody of Dumbledore."

The man running the hearing said, "Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, what do you have to say about the points mentioned by Madam Umbridge and Mr. Lawson."

Harry said, "As to Madam Umbridge's first statement, the only rudeness was hers addressed to Master Griphook; I simply said I resented a friend being treated rudely.

As to her second statement, I also resent that she is calling Master Griphook a liar by saying the committee has only his word; included in the petition for emancipation is a signed statement of an apprenticeship offer from Master Goblin Goldenrune.

That means Madam Umbridge is also calling him, and by association, the entire Goblin Nation liars. The committee should think twice before joining her in insulting the entire Goblin Nation by accepting her supposition that a Goblin's word cannot be trusted.

As to Mr. Lawson's statement; it depends on his definition of who is my guardian, Dumbledore or my aunt and uncle. The reason for the petition for emancipation is to allow me to live in my own home without supervision from an adult; my Muggle aunt and uncle, not Dumbledore, were the ones to supervise me since I was fifteen months old. If Mr. Lawson thinks Dumbledore is my guardian by the definition of him supervising me, I have never lived with or been directly supervised by Dumbledore.

If Mr. Lawson is inferring that, as headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore is considered to be supervising me while in school, then I assert that Professor McGonagall, as head of Gryffindor House, deals directly with me more often, and is therefore closer to being my guardian, than Dumbledore has ever been.

Officially, Dumbledore may be listed as my guardian, but if Mr. Lawson means guardian in the sense of controlling my finances, Dumbledore's mismanagement of my finances is one of the reasons I'm petitioning for emancipation.

Again, in the paperwork for the petition, there are a number of statements from Gringotts showing Dumbledore failed to carry out the mandates required by Wizarding law as my magical guardian. If the committee wishes, I can go through all of them, but it would save time if the members simply read the Gringotts statement.

Mr. Lawson of course, who is a close friend of Dumbledore, is asking the committee to vote to allow Dumbledore to continue to violate the provisions of guardianship mandated by law. If the committee agrees with him; you would be supporting these violations.

I wish to inform the committee, since Dumbledore has blocked in the Wizengmort my every attempt at removing him as my magical guardian, I have already obtained the services of a solicitor to file civil proceedings against him for mismanagement of the Potter family estate.

I am seeking restitution for all monies misspent by Dumbledore; and my solicitor is including charges against the ministry for not supervising Dumbledore as required by law."

Lawson said, "Mr. Potter, are you threatening this committee?"

Harry said, "No Mr. Lawson, I am simply asking this committee to read the paperwork filed by Gringotts and my solicitor, then to act justly on the information. I am also informing the ministry through the hearing before this committee that since Dumbledore is Head Mugwump of the Wizengmort, I am not suing in magical court.

Wizards, like all Her Majesty's citizens, are entitled to go to Muggle court; my lawsuit against Dumbledore is already in process in Muggle courts where Dumbledore's influence will not sway the courts' decision.

My solicitor told me to inform the committee to refer to Lawford vs. the Ministry of Magic. The Muggle court awarded Miss Lawford treble damages to be paid by the ministry after a ministry appointed guardian mismanaged her inheritance and the ministry refused to remove him. The judge also fined the ministry an additional 10,000 Galleons for not following the law and the guardian was sentenced to ten years in a Muggle prison.

It is my solicitor's opinion that since this committee is an arm of the ministry, if after reading Gringotts statement, the committee allows Dumbledore to continue mismanaging my estate, it would open this committee and the ministry to additional fine as it did in the Lawford case."

The committee members discussed what Harry had said for several minutes without further questions for Harry. Finally the man running the hearing said, "I have a question for Miss Weasley. I am told you left your parents' home and have been living with Mr. Potter since last summer. Is that true, and if so why?"

Ginny said, "It is true. Two years ago, I was possessed by Tom Riddle, the real name of the person who calls himself Lord Voldemort."

The five committee members gasped as Ginny said the name; so to avoid more problems, she continued, "Sorry, but fear of a name simply makes fear of the person worse. I will use 'He Who Must Not Be Named' if it makes you all happier.

'He Who Must Not Be Named' tried to kill me and Harry saved me. That makes Harry and me the only two survivors of an attack by 'He Who Must Not Be Named'. We also know, despite the ministry's official position, 'He Who Must Not Be Named' is not dead; and has made several attempts to come back into power.

We also have a number of reasons to believe he will try again to kill us. We decided we need to train and prepare so we will have a chance to defend ourselves when he tries the next time.

My parents think we should allow adults to defend us and not try to defend ourselves. When we were at school, we were able to train our minds and bodies; but last summer, my parents tried to stop me from training. I decided to leave home so I could continue training; and Harry offered to take me in."

The man asked, "You are only thirteen years old, are you in a relationship with Mr. Potter?"

Ginny answered, "We are best friends; we both feel that someday we may become more than friends. If you are asking if we are in a sexual relationship, no; we think we are too young for that right now."

The man said, "If there are no further questions or comments, the committee is adjourned. The petitioners will be notified by owl of the committee's decision within four weeks."

For the next four weeks, Harry and Ginny were busy. Their research showed the best method of breathing under water was a plant called Gillyweed. The Bubblehead charm would provide air, but Gillyweed also caused the person's hand and feet to become webbed and allowed the user to swim faster.

The jobs at Gringotts as apprentice curse breakers were real, not just a ruse for the emancipation committee. After writing many letters back and forth with Bill, Harry and Ginny thought they would not only enjoy that type of work, but it would be useful if they had to get through wards around the remaining Horcruxes or around Death Eater's homes where Voldemort might be staying.

Goldenrune demanded they come to four-hour classes with him five days a week, and assigned more homework than any class at Hogwarts. They began to learn to speak Egyptian, Norse, and Celtic and read runes in those languages along with more in depth Latin and Greek.

Once a week, they made arrangements with Dumbledore to view more memories in the Pensive about Tom. One memory showed him with an old witch who had Slytherin's Locket, and Hufflepuff's cup.

Harry asked, "Do you think the cup is a Horcrux?"

Dumbledore answered, "It would follow his tendency to use important objects; I think it is likely."

Harry mentioned the snake and asked if it could be a Horcrux.

Dumbledore said he didn't know if an animal could be one, but he would check. He added, "Why do you think he would use a snake? Our logic has led us to think he uses historical objects; his families or possibly founders' items."

Ginny said, "We think he used the diary to show he was Slytherin's heir; the snake would show he is a Parseltongue, a characteristic that ties him to Slytherin again."

Dumbledore thought about it and said, "I suppose that is a reasonable assumption. I'll let you know if I learn using an animal is possible."

Another memory was of Tom coming to Hogwarts to ask Dumbledore for ajob as the DADA teacher.

An interesting one was of the dinner where Tom asked Professor Slughorn about Horcruxes; it didn't match what Harry and Ginny already knew from Tom's memories. They realized something was wrong, and after this one, Dumbledore said, "This memory was tampered with, I'll need your help to get the true memory before we can be sure we get all the Horcruxes."

Even though Ginny hadmentioned to Dumbledore some time ago that she had a memory from when Tom possessed her of him intending to make six Horcruxes; they didn't want to let Dumbledore know they had all of Tom's memories, including the correct memory of this dinner. Dumbledore would want to know everything they knew which would give away how they had become so powerful and were able to pass their NEWTs.

Harry put Dumbledore off by saying, "We're pretty busy right now with the second task only three days away. When it's over, we'll have to talk over how to get the correct memory from Professor Slughorn."

While Harry and Dumbledore talked, Ginny changed the chart with the new information about Tom's Horcruxes.

Tom's Horcruxes - 6 ?

Object 1. Tom's diary

2\. Slytherin's locket 3. Peverell ring 4.Hufflepuff's cup?

5\. Nigini the snake?

6\. Unknown object?

Location kept Lucius Malfoy - House ? Cave by the sea Gaunt house

unknown location With Tom

unknown location

Status

Destroyed 6/19/1992 Destroyed 12/20/1994 Held at Potter Manor

Existing

Existing

Existing

Dumbledore said, "Speaking of the second task, it starts early in the morning. I would like you two to stay at Hogwarts the night before."

Harry said, "No! Because you're not using Ginny as a hostage; I won't allow you to put her in danger under the lake just because you forced me to participate."

Dumbledore was surprised and said, "I see you figured out what will happen in the second task; that each champion would have to rescue a hostage. I must insist Miss Weasley participates; if she doesn't the headmasters of the other champions will protest."

Harry said, "Let them protest; I didn't want to be in this tournament. You started this mess, you figure out how to get out of it."

Ginny said, "Why don't you be Harry's hostage; put yourself on the bottom of the lake and wait for him to come rescue you."

Dumbledore realized that, despite working together on the Horcruxes for the past few weeks, Harry still felt quite angry with him. He knew if he was Harry's hostage, he would be waiting a long time for Harry to save him. He simply said, "I'm a judge, I can't be a hostage."

Ginny said, "So am I, or have you forgotten that?"

Harry said, "I don't care about any of that, Ginny won't be put in danger. I'll be there to participate like the binding magical contract demands; who I have to rescue is your problem, but it won't be Ginny."

On February 24th at eight, Harry flued to McGonagall's office; Ginny would come at the last minute, after it was too later to put her in the lake.

The first thing Harry said was, "Professor McGonagall, do you know who they picked as my hostage?"

She answered, "Mr. Ronald Weasley volunteered to take his sister's place. He said you warned him and Miss Granger about the possibility and of the danger involved, and he trusts you to save him."

Harry said, "I will, but I hate that what Dumbledore tried to do to me is affecting my friends. If you will wait here and bring Ginny down safely; I'll head down to the lake."

At nine, Harry chewed and swallowed the Gillyweed, then jumped into the lake. With the webbed hands and feet, he out swam the other champions and found Ron tied to a rock at the bottom of the lake along with Hermione, Cho Chang, and a young blond girl that had to be Fleur's sister.

He cut Ron loose then hesitated. He didn't want to leave Hermione and the others just in case one of the other champions ran into trouble and didn't make it to their hostage. Ron seemed fine in his sleeping state, so Harry waited.

Cedric arrived and cut Cho free; he pointed to his watch and started back up. Krum was next, he freed Hermione and left.

Harry's hour from the Gillyweed was almost over and there was no sign of Fleur. He decided to take the little girl along with Ron. When he went to cut her free, four Merpeople tried to stop him. He pointed to his watch to try and show them time was almost up; but they refused to move, so he held out his arm and used a silent heating spell to shoot hot water at them.

They backed off and he cut the girl free, took her in one hand and Ron in the other, he swam as fast as he could to the surface. As soon as they surfaced, Ron and the girl woke up. Harry helped the girl to the shore since he knew Ron was a good swimmer and didn't need help.

Fleur was waiting on shore, she had been attacked by Grindylows and forced to quit the task. She took her sister from Harry and went to the medical tent to warm up. Ron and Harry followed them. Hermione and Krum, and Cedric and Cho, were still there waiting for the scores to be announced.

Cedric got the highest score for returning first, Ginny gave him a ten; Krum returned five minutes after Cedric and Ginny gave him a nine. Harry was late returning because he waited to save Fleur's sister; Ginny gave him a five because he was late, but Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman gave Harry tens for saving two hostages.

As soon as Madam Pomfrey checked them and gave permission to leave, Harry and Ron met Ginny and they went up to the castle; again, Harry didn't care about the score. Hermione stayed with Viktor to see total scores but asked Harry and Ginny to wait in McGonagall's office for her.

They talked over what was new with Ron for fifteen minutes before Hermione arrived; she asked, "How are things with you two, we hardly get to talk anymore?"

Ginny said, "We know, we both miss you two and hope this summer we'll see more of each other. We've been busy with our jobs at Gringotts and of course still looking for information about Tom before Harry has to face him."

Hermione said, "Before you leave, something has been bothering me since the train ride home last June; actually even before that. I want an answer from you two; how did you learn all you know so quickly.

I know you're both intelligent, but so am I, and I couldn't learn all the spells you learned so quickly. Not to mention a lot of other things you seem to know with no way I can see how you know them.

I just know you're keeping something secret and I think you owe it to Ron and me to tell us."

Ginny said, "We knew you won't like it; that's why we didn't tell you. But I guess you're right about us owing you the truth.

Hermione, how strong are your Occlumency shields? We can't tell you any more unless we're sure you can keep it hidden from Dumbledore, Snape, and other Legilimens."

She answered, "I've been meditating and trying to form strong shields since you first started teaching me Occulmency and I think I'm ready."

Harry asked, "Can I test you shields?"

Ron said, "What does that mean? How can you test her?"

Harry said, "I'll try and look into her mind, if her shields are strong, she'll be able to stop me."

Ron said, "What happens if she can't?"

Hermione answered, "Then Harry will be able to see my thoughts and memories; I'm not worried about it Ron, if Harry breaks my shields I'm sure he won't keep looking at my private thoughts."

Harry said, "No I won't; I don't want to see your secret thoughts, just check that you can keep others out."

Harry looked into Hermione's eyes and pushed into her mind. She had arranged her thoughts like a library; shelves of books ran into the distance. Harry took down a book labeled Harry Potter and opened it; but he couldn't read it, the letters were scrambled randomly.

He laughed; she stored her thoughts in code.

He put the Harry Potter book back on the shelf and took another labeled Ron Weasley. It also was full of scrambled letters. He put it back and looked around the library until he found a catalog labeled codes; opening it, he saw hundreds of listings, all in code.

Harry pulled out of her mind and said, "You're amazing, I suppose it would take hours to find which code went with which book and even your codes are in code. Anyone trying to read your thoughts would tire out long before they were able to break into even one thought."

Hermione smiled and said, "So can you tell me your secret?"

Harry and Ginny looked at Ron; he said, "I know, because I haven't practiced Occlumency you can't tell me. I'll leave."

Harry said, "Ron, I'm sorry, but this secret is really important. If anyone finds out what it is, they could tell a Death Eater and it would make the difference between us killing Tom or him killing us."

Hermione said, "Ron, if you want to, I'll help you practice your Occulmency shields. I'm sure they'll tell you once you can protect this secret."

Ginny said, "Sure Ron, we can use your help, we want your help; but it's just too dangerous to let this secret out unprotected."

Ron nodded and said, "Hermione, I do want your help; and I promise to practice more. I'll be in the common room."

He left and Harry warded the room so nobody could enter or hear what they told Hermione.

Ginny said, "When Tom possessed me, he transferred all his memories, all his knowledge, into my head so I would be able to do the spells he wanted me to do. When Harry destroyed the diary and killed that part of Voldemort, the knowledge was still in me.

I can remember everything Tom knew up to the end of his sixth year when he made the diary. That included how he transferred that knowledge to me; so I used it to give Harry the same knowledge so he would be better prepared to face Voldemort next time."

Hermione gasped and made a horrified face at what Ginny said.

Hermione said, "If his knowledge is still in your head, you could still be under his control and you may have put Harry under his control to."

Harry said, "Hermione, think; if we were under his control, could we be working so hard to defeat him?"

She said, "You're working to increase your power; he may be letting you do that so once you're powerful enough, he can make you do his bidding."

He said, "Do you remember I told you last year that we overheard Dumbledore talking to Snape about a prophecy concerning me and Voldemort."

Hermione said, "Yes, and about his plan for your life."

Harry said, "Part of that plan is, before I can face Voldemort and kill him, we have to do something else. Ginny and I started on it months ago; Dumbledore, Sirius, and Lupin have been helping us."

Ginny interrupted with, "You're going to find this hard to believe if we just tell you; if you let me transfer Tom's memories to your mind, you'll be able to see in his thoughts what he did and what we have to do to stop him."

Hermione said, "No, I don't want his memories in my mind until I'm sure he can't possess me. Just tell me and I'll decide what I can believe."

Harry said, "Tom used a dark ritual to break off pieces of his soul and store these pieces in objects called Horcruxes. As long as even one of these Horcruxes exists, he can't be killed."

Hermione gasped and made a horrified face. She asked, "How sure are you about this; that these things exist, and that they prevent him from being killed."

Ginny said, "100% sure, we found three and destroyed two of them so far."

Hermione asked, "Why didn't you destroy the third one?"

Harry answered, "We stabbed the two with a Basilisk fang; the third one is a ring and the fang won't penetrate the metal. It's also protected by a compulsion charm that we can't break. Dumbledore couldn't even break it. We're trying to think of another method."

Hermione asked, "Dumbledore knows about these Horcruxes and about you having 'You Know Who' memories?"

Harry said, "He knows about the Horcruxes; he already knew before we talked to him because Tom's diary was one and we left it with him after we got out of the Chamber of Secrets. He doesn't know about us having Tom's memories, and we don't want him to know too much about us so he can't try and control us again."

Hermione thought for a moment and asked, "What's so hard about the protections on this ring that even Dumbledore can't break them?"

Ginny said, "The charm is in ancient Egyptian, and Dumbledore doesn't speak ancient Egyptian. We're hoping when my brother Bill comes home, he'll be able to help."

Hermione asked, "How many Horcruxes are there? I mean how many more?"

Harry said, "We're almost positive there are three more; that's part of his memories, he planned to make six, and we're pretty sure he did.

It's also why we're sure he isn't possessing us; would he let us destroy the objects holding part of his soul and make himself mortal again if he was possessing us and could stop us?"

Hermione again asked, "And Dumbledore knows all this and is helping you?"

Ginny again answered, "Yes, he's known about Tom's Horcruxes since he saw the diary; but he doesn't know we have Tom's memories in our minds."

Hermione said, "The diary was a Horcrux, and it possessed you; so how are you sure you're not still possessed if his memories are still in you? Maybe he's making you think you've been destroying these things but you really haven't."

Harry could see that Hermione was terrified by the possibility of being possessed like Ginny was her first year and he tried to reassure her by saying, "Sirius, Lupin, and Dumbledore all saw one destroyed, there's no mistake. We all saw his spirit come out; it tried to fight with us to stop us from destroying it. We all heard it scream as the soul fragment was destroyed.

We're not possessed, you can ask Sirius and Lupin if you want to; we'd rather not let Dumbledore know we told you about the memories, we still don't trust him totally."

Hermione thought about it for a minute and said, "So back to how you learned everything so fast and passed your OWLs and NEWTs. You haven't explained that yet."

Ginny said, "That's easy, Tom's memories include all he learned up to the end of his sixth year, all the spells, charms, curses, potions; everything from his classes and everything he learned on his own. It's all in our heads, all we had to do was look them over, do some practice, and most importantly build our magical power to be able to do things."

Harry said, "If you let us give you his memories, you'll be able to take your OWLs and NEWTs by this summer."

Hermione was thinking furiously; she said, "That would be wonderful; but I'd miss out on the next three years of school."

Harry said, "Yes, but that doesn't mean that you wouldn't be learning. There are schools to go to after Hogwarts, advanced schools for whatever job you want in life. Ginny and I are studying and learning more for our apprentice curse breaker positions than we ever did at Hogwarts."

Ginny added, "And you would be a big help to us in finding and destroying the last three Horcruxes."

Hermione seemed a little calmer and asked, "How long will it take? I mean to give me his memories."

Ginny said, "A few hours to transfer them; but months for you to review them and practice using them."

Harry said, "As a fourth year, maybe less; I was third year and Ginny second when we did it. You're already more powerful than we were when we got the memories and you know more than we did then."

Hermione said, "Okay, when can we do it?"

Ginny said, "Tonight if you want; then you can start revising whenever you have free time."

Hermione said, "Where? Will you stay here in the castle or do you need me to come to Potter manor?"

Ginny said, "Here in the room of requirement would be easiest."

Just then, McGonagall arrived and said, "Mr. Potter, you are now in second place behind Mr. Diggory."

Harry interrupted, "I don't care, you know that."

She said, "Yes I do, I just thought you might be interested in where you will start the third task, and I must tell you it is at eight o'clock at night on June 24th.

Here's something you may be more interested in; your emancipation decisions arrived this morning. I thought I would let you finish the task first so you wouldn't be distracted while saving Mr. Weasley."

Ginny asked, "Tell us, what did the committee decide?"

McGonagall said, "I'm sure I don't know; I don't open other people's mail."

She handed Ginny one envelope and Harry another. The both tore the envelopes open and quickly read the documents."

Hermione asked, "Well, are you going to tell us; did you both get emancipated?"

Harry and Ginny swapped papers first before Ginny said, "Yes, both of us by three to two votes."

Harry said, "And I bet the no votes were Umbridge and Lawson."

Ginny said, "No doubt, but it doesn't matter since we got the other three in our favor. Shall we go home and celebrate?"

Harry answered, "First we go to Gringotts and stop all the payments Dumbledore has been making to my relatives. Then check my family vault to see if there is anything in it that can help us, because we can take out things besides books and papers now.

Professor, can we use your flue to leave and to return tonight at eight? We have a lot to go over with Hermione; she's volunteered to help us."

McGonagall said, "Certainly Mr. Potter. Am I to assume I'll be losing my best student because Miss Granger is planning to take her OWLs and NEWTs early?"

Hermione said, "Not before the end of this year Professor McGonagall; maybe I'll take them in the summer."

Harry and Ginny left for Gringotts where they met with Griphook and told him to take Dumbledore's name off anything to do with the Potter family, stop all payments Dumbledore authorized, and finally to take them to the Potter family vault.

Now that he was an emancipated adult, Harry wanted to take something he had seen the first time he was in the vault. He and Ginny entered the vault, Griphook waited at the door. Harry went straight to the place where his parents' letters had been and took a small box that sat next to the letters.

The letters, which he read that night when he first found them, were short and simple. Both his mother's letter and his father's explained how much they loved him, about his title as duke, and told him to find and stay close to as many friends as he could trust.

He asked, "Ginny, do you see anything you want to take today?"

She said, "Harry, I know you said I can have anything I want; but this is your vault, your money, your things. I can't take anything."

Harry opened the box in his hand and kneeled in front of her; he said, "Ginevra Weasley, I know you're only thirteen and I'm only fourteen; but I love you more than anything and I would be happy if you would agree tomarry me once we finally get rid of Tom for good."

He took his mother's engagement ring, gold with a large diamond surrounded by emeralds, and held it out to her.

Ginny put her handover her mouth and started crying. Harry said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad. I'll put the ring back."

She grabbed his hand and said, "You better not Mr. Potter, you offered to marry me and I won't let you back out. You better put that ring on my finger before I hex you."

He slid the ring on and it self-sized to her finger. He stood and wrapped his arms around her she put her arms around his neck. They had been snogging for more than a year, but this kiss was more tender and conveyed more deep feelings than any snogging session.

She said, "I dreamed of us getting married since I was five and my parents started reading me bedtime stories about 'The Boy Who Lived'. Then I saw you on platform 9¾ the first time and thought there's the boy I'm going to marry. This past year, we gotten so close I knew we would eventually marry; but I never dreamed you'd ask me so soon."

Harry said, "I wanted to ask for months; but we're not allowed to get engaged when we're underage. Now that we're emancipated, it was the first thing I wanted to do."

They returned to Potter Manor to eat; then returned to Hogwarts to give Hermione Tom's memories. As soon as they walked into the common room to get her, Hermione saw the ring that wasn't on Ginny's finger earlier. She opened her mouth, but Ginny shook her head and mouthed, "Wait until we're alone."

As soon as the door to the room of requirements closed, Hermione said, "Ginny, where did you get that ring?"

Ginny said calmly, "Harry gave it to me when he asked me to marry him."

Hermione squealed, then said, "That's wonderful, but aren't you two a little young to get married?"

Ginny said, "First, we're not getting married tomorrow; we haven't even talked about setting a date.

Second, after you get Tom's memories, you'll understand better. We don't just have his knowledge; we received his logic and his emotions; the logic and emotions of an advanced seventeen-year old.

You're fifteen in body years, but you're very mature, your mind is more like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old. I got Tom's seventeen-year-oldemotional level when I was eleven, Harry when he was thirteen. We've aged another two years since then so we're more like nineteen-year-olds as far as our logic and emotions are concerned.

My parents and Harry's were married at nineteen and both out mothers got pregnant soon after getting married. And before you say anything, that doesn't mean I plan on getting pregnant.

We have to destroy the last three Horcruxes and kill Tom before we'll even think about that. But we might get married sooner than that."

Hermione said, "Have you told your parents yet? About the ring, or you plans to marry in a few years."

Ginny answered, "No, Harry just asked me a few hours ago; you're the first person we've seen since then.

We can talk more later, let's get Tom's memories transferred first."

Hermione asked, "How does this work? Do you have to touch my head, just look into my eyes, or what? Will I be learning new spells minute by minute as you give me his memories?"

Ginny said, "First you have to lower your Occlumency shields, and looking eye to eye helps it go faster like it helps with Legilimency. No, you won't learn new spells as we do it. It's more like I'm putting new books into your Occlumency library. You'll have to read Tom's memories to put the knowledge into your mind."

Hermione asked, "I thought you said I would be able to take OWLs and NEWTs by summer. I can't revise all seven years of him memories in a few months."

Ginny said, "It's faster than reading a book; for example, you can transfer all his charms memories for an entire year in less than a day. And you don't have to do the first four years; you already know that stuff. After you transfer them, you will still have to take time to practice the spells, charms, and curses; but I bet you finish everything before next September."

Hermione asked, "What about Harry? What are you going to do for three hours as Ginny gives me the memories?"

Harry said, "I'm going to sit here and practice my Animagus transformation. We've been so busy with OWLs, NEWTs, the tournament tasks, finding and destroying Horcruxes, and the emancipation hearing that we haven't done anything with our Animagus forms for months."

Hermione asked, "Did you ever figure out what kind of birds you will be?"

Harry said, "Not yet, we can change legs and arms, but not our bodies or heads yet. We can't tell what kind of birds from just a leg or wing."

Ginny added, "We think we're getting close;because of all the training we keep doing, our magical power has developed quite a bit in the last three months. We think not enough magical power was the reason we couldn't completely transform so far."

Harry said, "This is my first attempt since the first task in November. You girls start the transfer and I hope to have something to show you by the time you're done."

Ginny said, "Good luck Harry; if you manage to transform, I'll give it a try tomorrow. Hermione, once we start the transfer we'll be sort of out of it for about three hours; that's why we need to be in a safe place where nobody will bother us.

Now get comfortable and look into my eyes."


	12. Chapter 12 - Fighting A War

Chapter XII – Fighting a War

It was close to eleven when Ginny finished transferring Tom's memories to Hermione. As they cleared their minds and looked around, instead of finding Harry, they saw a large bird. It was mostly bright red, but had black feathers on its head with one white feather above its right eye. The tail feathers were golden, along with golden tips on the wings.

Ginny asked, "Harry, is that you?"

The bird nodded.

Hermione said, "You're a Phoenix."

Again, the bird nodded.

Ginny asked, "Can you fly? Do you have any Phoenix powers?"

The bird took off and flew around the room once, landing on the back of the couch where Ginny and Hermione were still sitting. It hopped down to the floor, then changed shape until it became Harry.

He immediately grabbed his head and fell down.

Ginny ran to him and asked, "Is it your scar? Are you sensing Voldemort? Are you seeing him doing something again like on New Year's Eve?"

Harry didn't answer for almost a minute. He looked to be in less pain than before, stood up, and said, "I didn't see him or anything else; but he's happy, something he was planning has happened. When I was in my Phoenix form I could sense something, but it didn't hurt. As soon as I returned to my human form, the pain hit me; but I'm fine now."

Hermione said, "It's late and I'm out after curfew, I better get back to the common room. First, tell me how it feels to be a Phoenix; what magical powers do you have?"

He answered, "I don't know, I tried for hours to change; I was ready to quit when I finally did it. Then you two came out of the memory transfer trance right after I changed. I didn't even have a chance to try flying until Ginny asked if I could, so I tried and did it.

Ginny, I think we had the wrong idea about our Animagus transformation. We thought because we saw an immature bird when we did our Animagus vision quest it was because we were too young. I know now that it wasn't our young bodies; it was because of our undeveloped magical power at the that our magic is strong enough, I was able to transform. You should be able to do it now to."

Ginny said, "I'll try tomorrow after I rest up from the memory transfer. Hermione, we'll walk you back to the common room, it's on our way anyhow."

They headed into the hall and Harry said, "Hermione, we know how excited you are about learning; but don't try to revise any of Tom's memories tonight. The transfer is very tiring and you'll do much better if you're rested."

She gave the Fat Lady the password and went in. Harry and Ginny, thinking McGonagall was sleeping by now so they couldn't get into her office to use her flue, headed to the main doors to leave the grounds so they could Apparate home. As they reached the entrance hall, they ran into Snape.

He said, "Potter, Weasley, what are you doing roaming the halls at this time of night?"

Harry answered, "We were visiting a friend, now we're headed home."

Snape said, "You are no longer Hogwarts' students; you have no right to be in the castle. You will come with me to the headmaster's office while we call the Aurors to arrest you for trespassing."

Ginny said, "Professor McGonagall let us in so we have permission to be here."

Snape said, "She does not have the authority to allow non-students in after hours; you will either come to the headmaster's office with me voluntarily or I will make you come."

Harry said, "When we were students we had to put up with you being amiserable, arrogant git; but now you have no power over us so step aside or I'll hurt you."

Snape drew his wand and threw a stunner at Harry so fast they almost couldn't see him move; but,sensing Snape's magic, Ginny knew there would be trouble and had already put up a strong shield the minute they saw Snape.

His stunner bounced off Ginny's shield and Harry let years of his anger with Snape get the better of him He threw a strong wandless Bludgeoning hex that flung Snape back twenty feet against the far wall. Snape slid to the floor unconscious and Harry and Ginny walked out. After passing through the front gate, they Apparated to Potter Manor.

Harry had Bandi get the Daily Prophet the next morning expecting to see bad news about Voldemort. Sure enough, the front page was filled with the news that the Dementors had rebelled and left Azkaban after sucking the souls from the dozen wizard guards in charge of the prison. More than twenty Death Eaters had escaped.

Harry said, "Dumbledore warned the ministry that Voldemort was back and planning to restart the war; but Fudge refused to listen.

Because Sirius had experience with Dementors, he sat in on the meetings with Fudge where Dumbledore suggested removing the Dementors and forming an all wizard guard force; but Fudge said the cost was too high. I wonder what the cost of twenty Death Eaters running loose will be?"

Ginny said, "We have to get dressed, we have a class with Goldenrune today; then I think we should see my father, tell him we're engaged, and ask him the best way to break the news to mum."

Their class with Goldenrune ended at three and they Apparated from Diagon Alley to the ministry foyer. As soon as they arrived, they could tell the place was chaotic; the escape of the Death Eaters had everyone on edge.

Their wands were checked and they were scrutinized more closely than ever before; at least some one, they figured it was Madam Bones, was on the ball tightening security. They found Mr. Weasley doing paperwork.

As soon as he saw them, he asked, "You heard of the escape I take it?"

Ginny hugged him and said, "Yes, but that's not why we're here. We got our emancipation papers yesterday; it was a three to two vote.

We wanted to tell you that and something else."

Harry interrupted with, "We don't want you to be upset Mr. Weasley, but now that we're considered adults and its legal, I asked Ginny to marry me."

Ginny jumped back in and said, "And I accepted, look at the ring Harry gave me, it was his mother's."

Mr. Weasley sat with his mouth open not saying anything. Finally Ginny said, "Dad, did you hear what we said?"

Mr. Weasley blinked, nodded, and finally said, "Yes, I heard. I expected it to happen eventually, but not for a few more years at least.

Don't you two think you're too young to be married?"

Ginny said, "That's exactly what Hermione said; and I'm going to tell you the same thing I told her, we're not married, we're not getting married today or tomorrow. We're not planning on getting married anytime soon; engaged simply means we promise to get married sometime in the future."

Harry said, "We wanted your advice on how to tell Mrs. Weasley. If you were shocked, imagine how she'll react when we tell her."

Mr. Weasley said, "I understand your point; Molly won't take this well."

Ginny said, "We don't want to lie to mum by hiding it; but we also don't want her to go around the twistand try to hold me captive again like she did when I left the house."

Mr. Weasley said, "Let me consider it for a few days before you tell her; I'll take the blame if she gets angry about you not telling her immediately."

Four days later, Harry and Ginny stopped at the Burrow before going home. They were right about Mrs. Weasley not taking their engagement well; she yelled and carried on for almost half an hour before Mr. Weasley, Ginny, and Harry working together got her calmed down.

A week passed, Ginny and Harry attended class with Goldenrune, studied, did homework in between, spent some time researching Horcrux locations, and practiced their Animagus forms. Ginny had managed the transformation two days after Harry first did it.

After days of practice, they learned to fly more efficiently without tiring out; they practiced carrying heavy objects, and finally decided to try traveling by flame. It took several tries to concentrate on a destination and actually move there, but eventually they learned traveling by Phoenix flames wasn't much different from Apparating, except they didn't have to twist into it.

That night, they flamed to the Hogwarts front gate and walked to the castle. They told Ron, Fred, and George about getting engaged. The twins were happy for Ginny and Harry; Ron said congratulations but didn't look as if he was pleased. Before they left, Hermione told Ginny that she would talk to Ron and try to settle him down.

She also told Harry that Ron's shields were improved enough now that she intended to tell him about Tom's memories soon and see if Ron wanted to have them transferred to his mind.

Mid March, they decided to test flame traveling through Hogwarts' wards; they knew Fawkes could do it. After dark, they flamed from inside the wards of Potter Manor, which they had done before, directly to the castle through its wards. It worked; they arrived without a problem to the outside of Gryffindor tower.

They didn't want everyone to know they were Phoenix Animagi, or even that they were visiting, so they perched on the outside windowsill of the common room and looked in. There were a dozen students sitting about, but no sign of Hermione or Ron. Harry flew to the window of Ron's room and Ginny to the window of Hermione's room, but neither was in their room.

After an hour sitting on the common room outdoor sill, they were about to give up when Hermione and Ron came in together; each went up to their own room. Harry pecked on Ron's window until Ron came over to see what the noise was; when he saw a Phoenix, he opened the window and Harry flew in.

Ron asked, "Harry, is that you? Hermione told me you learned to be a Phoenix Animagus."

Harry returned to his human form and said, "Hey Ron, how are things? I've missed talking with you."

They gave each other a one armed hug and slapped each other's backs. Ron had a million questions, but Harry said, "Ginny and Hermione should be here any minute; then we can talk things over.

First, have you practiced you Occlumency?"

Ron said, 'Yes, Hermione said she thinks I'm ready, do you want to test me?"

Harry did, Ron had his shields arranged like a chess problem. An attacker would have to checkmate Ron before they could cross the board to get to Ron's memories. It reminded Harry of the giant chessboard going for the Philosopher's Stone.

Harry thought the shields were strong enough to keep Snape, Dumbledore, or a decent Legilimens out for a significant amount of time; but he gave Ron some suggestions about how to strengthen the shields even more. Basically making the chess problem more complex by adding at least two more necessary moves to mate.

By then, Ginny and Hermione arrived.

Ginny pecked on Hermione's window until she came and opened it.

Hermione asked, "Harry, what are you doing, do you want to come into my bedroom?"

Ginny flew in and transformed; Hermione gasped, hugged Ginny, and said, "Ginny, you did it; you're a Phoenix to."

Ginny said, "Harry's with Ron, let's go to his room so we can talk."

They went down the girls' stairs, through the common room, and up the boys' stairs without anyone in the room noticing. They got to Ron's room in time to hear Harry talking about Ron's Occlumency shields.

Hermione hugged Harry and Ginny hugged Ron before Hermione said, "What did you two do to Snape? The morning after you were here with me, we found out he was in the hospital wing. It was four days before he came back to class."

Ginny answered, "The git tried to stop us from leaving and threatened to call Aurors to have us arrested. Harry hit him with a spell that threw him against the wall."

Hermione said, "Harry, I can't believe you would attack a teacher."

Harry said, "He's not my teacher; he's nothing more than an obnoxious git that has to learn he can't push us around anymore."

Ginny asked, "Hermione, how much progress have you made on Tom's …; ah the project you were working on about Tom."

Ginny looked a Ron with a guilty expression; and Ron said, "I'm working on my Occlumency Ginny, but I understand you can't tell me everything until they're strong enough to hold off Snape and Dumbledore."

Hermione spoke up with, "I'm doing good; it was hard at first, but once I got the knack, it's going quickly. It's really helped in classes, and I think I'll be ready to take my OWLs by the end of the school year and NEWTs by August; but I'm not sure I want to if it means leaving school."

Ginny said, "You have to do what's right for you; but remember there's still lots to learn after you leave here."

Ron asked, "Are you really going to leave, Hermione? What will I do without you here to make me do homework and study?"

Harry said, "Ron, you have your Occlumency shields strong enough, and Hermione will be telling you everything soon."

Hermione said, "I was planning to tell Ron on Friday night so we can sleep late Saturday morning if he decides to do it."

Harry went on, "If you decide to do it, you'll be able to do what Hermione is doing, what Ginny and I already did. You'll be able to take your OWLs and NEWTs and finish school in less than a year. We can use your help if you want to; we can all live at Potter Manor and work on fighting Voldemort.

You both know Voldemort is back; and he's organizing his Death Eaters to start the war again. We'll need all the help we can get; so far the ministry isn't doing much except for Madam Bones pushing more security."

Ron said, "We know, and I'll do want I can to help; I'll keep working on my shields even though you think I'm ready, Harry. But I'll never be able to do all the spells you do."

Harry said, "I didn't know how often we would be able to get back here; so I left it up to Hermione to decide and she said you are ready. Hermione you know what to do.

Both of you, don't forget to work out to, run, lift weights, and practice the martial arts we showed you. Knowing the spell is the easy part Ron; Hermione will teach you all of them overnight. So you don't have to worry about knowing them, but if you don't develop your body's strength, you won't develop your magical power either. You'll still be able to do all the spells, but if they don't have the power behind them it won't do any good."

Ron asked, "Will I be able to become an Animagus like you two?"

Ginny answered, "We can't say Ron. Until you do the Animagus vision quest you won't know if you have an animal form."

Harry added, "We'll make the potion and you can take it this summer; you too Hermione, if you want to try."

Hermione said, "I'm not sure I want to be an Animagus."

Ginny said, "Taking the potion and having the vision quest doesn't make you an Animagus; it just lets you know you can become one and what animal you would be. You would still have to train and practice transforming for months, maybe years."

Hermione said, "I'll think about it."

They talked for nearly an hour before Ginny and Harry turned back to their Phoenix forms and flamed out back to Potter Manor.

It was the last week of March, Ginny and Harry were in Goldenrune's classroom. For the past two months, they had taken class five days a week, ten to twelve and one to three; with an hour lunch break from twelve to one.

The first week they walked to the Leakey Cauldron to eat; then one day, Goldenrune said, "We will work through lunch today, I have arranged for food to be brought here."

The food was Goblin food, raw meat, and assorted fungi. Harry and Ginny never hesitated;without comment,they took pieces of meat and fungus and ate the same as Goldenrune did. They took notes between bites; the Goblin ate as he explained how to disarm woven Nordic curses.

The next two classes they went out to eat; then on the third day, food was brought in again, this time a mix of Goblin and human food. Ginny and Harry ate some of each and Goldenrune did the same.

Finally the Goblin said, "When Griphook told me you ate Goblin food without reacting negatively, I decided to see how you would react to an unexpected meal. Our curse breakers are often put into a position of being unexpectedly invited to eat with clients; and most of our clients are Goblins.

Refusing to eat is an insult, as are negative reaction to Goblin food; it is one reason human curse breakers at Gringotts are uncommon. In the past, several human curse breakers were killed by the client after unintentionally insulting them.

You are both talented; but it would waste my time to continue training you only to have you go the first time on your own to work a job, insult a Goblin client, and get killed. Now that I know you can be trusted to have proper Goblin manners, I can continue to train you."

After that day, they ate with Goldenrune, sometimes Goblin food sometimes human food, almost every class; but today, Goldenrune had a meeting with the Goblins' board of directors, so they were going out for lunch. At noon, they walked out into Diagon Alley on the way to the Leakey Cauldron.

Suddenly they noticed a disturbance down the street; then they heard screams. They rushed over to see if someone needed help and saw people in black robes and masks attacking shoppers.

Over the past year, they had discussed what they would do if they were involved in a fight with Death Eaters. They decided they needed to use powerful spells that could kill; because the Death Eaters would be doing that.

Their review of the last war showed that the ministry's policy, treating Death Eaters like common drunks or pickpockets, and simply stunning them didn't work. Stunned Death Eaters would often be revived, and wounded Death Eaters healed, by their accomplices; they then return to the fight and killed more innocent people.

Harry and Ginny came to the conclusion that Death eaters were not common criminals; they were soldiers in a war of rebellion against the democratically elected ministry. That meant Harry and Ginny would have to train and act as soldiers to defend the legitimate government. Soldiers' job in a war was to kill the enemy before the enemy could kill them.

Harry and Ginny agreed their main objective in such a fight would be to save innocent bystanders; not to worry about killing Death Eaters.

The two closest Death Eaters had a family trapped against a wall; the father and mother were under the Cruciatus curse screaming while three young children were begging the Death Eaters to stop hurting mommy and daddy.

Other shoppers scrambled to get away, only interested in getting as far from the attackas possible; nobody seemed to have the courage to help the family. Only Harry and Ginny ran toward the family.

Harry hit one Death Eater in the head with the same Bludgeoning curse he used on Snape; the man's head exploded. Ginny used a strong Severing curse on the other Death Eater, cutting the man in half.

They had no time to comfort the family; a hundred feet farther down the street they saw two more Death Eaters blasting storefronts and setting fire to buildings with people trapped inside. Ginny and Harry ran closer, firing curses to distract the men from doing any more damage.

The Death Eaters fired back at the teens with little success. Their training allowed Harry and Ginny to dodge spells, do shoulder rolls and come right back to their feet to return fire. They slowly worked their way close enough to eventually cut both men to pieces with Severing curses.

Their robes were torn in several places and they both had minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises; but neither had been hit by any major curses. They hurried on to the last pair of Death Eaters near the entrance to Diagon Alley by the Leaky Cauldron.

These two were setting fire to shops while randomly cursing people in between. Unfortunately, they were facing Ginny and Harry's direction and saw them coming. One man threw a curse at Harry and a duel was on.

Harry faced the Death Eater on the east side of the street. After a minute of trading curses, with Harry blocking or evaded direct hits and taking only two grazing hits, the Death Eater became frustrated and began using unforgivables. Cruciatus and Avada Kadavra were alternated, and Harry realized if he didn't do something soon, one of the curses would eventually hit him.

He sent the Egyptian Mummification curse at the man. Goldenrune taught them last week that this curse was used as a trap against curse breakers trying to break down wards in the pyramids. It couldn't be blocked by regular shields, only by another Egyptian counter curse shield.

Goldenrune was correct, the curse passed through the man's shield and his brain and entrails were ejected from his body leaving a dried but unwrapped mummy. Harry was breathing hard and bent over to calm himself after his first life and death duel.

In response to shopkeepers' calls to the ministry, ten Aurors finally arrived in time to see Harry finish his opponent. One yelled at Harry, "Ministry Auror, drop your wand and surrender."

Ginny was fighting the man on the west side of the street. He was slower casting spells and Ginny soon had him on total defense. Her problem was the Death Eater managed to slide between the shop behind him and a stack of crates in front of him; now he was able to fire at her while she couldn't get a clean shot at him. She got nicked by a few of his curses and needed to do something to end the duel.

She couldn't hit him with a spell; but she couldn't stop firing at him because he might run into the shop where he could get hostages. If she tried to levitate the crates out of the way, the man would have time to either get a clean shot at her or escape while she was occupied moving the crates.

The man's back was toward the people in the shop, but none of them seemed to have the nerve, or the skill, to stun him from behind. Then Ginny noticed the shop sign was hanging from a pole above the man's head.

She fired a severing curse at the chain holding up the sign which then fell on the man. It gave Ginny two or three seconds, enough time to get around the crates and cover the man with her wand. He had dropped his wand when the sign hit him and now she summoned it to her hand.

She said, "Unless you want to die, lay face down with your hands behind your neck."

She couldn't see the man's face through the mask he wore, but his eyes showed great anger. Suddenly he jumped to his feet and ran at her; she blasted him back and he was dead before hitting the ground.

She stood there to allow her heart rate to slow as the adrenaline rush from the fight ended. Her back was toward the street when she heard someone yell, "Ministry Auror, drop your wand and surrender."

There were no more spells being fired, so Ginny thought the Aurors would simply want to hear what happened. After all, she hadn't done anything wrong; all she did was stop a Death Eater attack. She dropped her wand and turned to face the Aurors; she said, "You're a little late,

we already stopped the Death Eaters that attacked the shoppers."

The Auror said, "As far as we could see, you and the boy over there were the only people casting curses. You're coming to the ministry to be interrogated. What's your name?"

She answered, Ginny Weasley."

The Auror said, "Arthur Weasley's daughter; what are you doing here, you should be in school."

Harry had the same idea as Ginny, he didn't want to end up in a duel against Aurors, so he dropped his wand and turned. He said, "There's a lot of property damage, but as far as I saw, only two people in the street hurt by the Cruciatus curse; but there could be many casualties inside the stores that were torched.

The Auror said, "So you admit using an unforgivable curse?"

At first, it didn't register with Harry what the Auror said; when he realized what was said, he asked, "What do you mean? I didn't use any unforgivables, the Death Eaters were using them, all we did was stop them."

The Auror said, "When we arrived you and the girl over there were the only people casting curses, and I saw you kill that man over there. You'll be taken in for interrogation. What's your name?"

He answered, "Harry Potter."

The Auror said, "Yeah, and I'm Queen of the May. What's your real name?"

He said, "I'm Harry Potter; if you don't believe me come look at my scar."

The Auror spoke to two others, "Keep him covered while I check."

When he got close, Harry asked, "Can I use my hand to lift my hair?"

The Auror nodded and Harry exposed his scar. Just then, the tall black man that was with Dumbledore the day they were in Trafalgar Square came over and said, "Simmons, don't you recognize Harry Potter?

Mr. Potter, I'm Kingsley Shackelbolt, Auror in charge of day shift; why are you here? Shouldn't you be at Hogwarts for the Tri-wizard Tournament?"

Harry said, "I am in the tournament, but you must know I'm not at Hogwarts anymore; you were helping Dumbledore look for me.

I work at Gringotts now and I was on my way to lunch at the Leakey Cauldron when six Death Eaters attacked the shoppers. We couldn't let them terrorize, torture, and maybe kill innocent people, so we stopped them."

Kingsley asked, "We, who's with you? No, let me guess, the Weasley girl."

Harry pointed across the street and said, "Her name is Ginny, she works at Gringotts with me."

Another Auror came over and said, "Sir, we found six dead; all wearing Death Eater robes and masks, all with the Dark Mark on their arms. Three of them were on the list of those escapees from Azkaban; the other three were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago after claiming they were under 'You Know Who's' Imperious curse."

Kingsley said, "Potter, you and the Weasley girl took on six Death Eaters by yourselves?"

Harry said, "I told you, her name is Ginny; and yes, we didn't have any choice. Nobody else was trying to stop them from torturing and killing people and destroying property. We didn't know how long it would take you Aurors to arrive, or even if you were coming at all.

Another Auror brought Ginny over by that time and after hearing what Kingsley and Harry said, she added, "It wasn't a big deal, not like we had to fight all six at the same time. They were spread out along the alley so we took them one by one."

Kingsley said, "Well, you two will still have to come in to make statements; but if witnesses corroborate your story; there shouldn't be a problem.

I see you both have a lot of cuts and scrapes; any serious injuries?"

Harry said, "Nothing for me; just minor things. Ginny, are you okay?"

She answered, "Nothing big. I would have healed the small cuts and scrapes by now, but when I asked this git of an Auror for my wand so I could do it, he wouldn't give it back."

Not long after they first started sparing training, they had to see Madam Pomfrey so many times with small injuries that she threatened to stop healing them. Instead, they asked her to teach them how to heal their own injuries.

It took some convincing; thinking they didn't trust her to treat them, Madam was insulted. They got her to agree by explaining that if someone was injured at a distant place, it would be good not to let them continue to bleed all over until the person could be brought to the hospital wing.

They had enough practice by now that they never had to see a professional healer.

The Auror holding Ginny's arm said, "Suspects are not allowed to treat their own wounds, a healer will see you at the ministry if necessary."

The other Auror said, "They're both minors, can't be more than fifteen; we need to contact their parents before treating their injuries or interrogating them. And there'll have to be a hearing for use of underage magic; we'll have to notify Umbridge."

Harry asked, "Umbridge, the frog lady; what does she have to do with this?"

Kingsley laughed at Harry description of Umbridge and said, "She heads all use of underage magic hearings. Your underage Apparation in front of Muggles at Trafalgar Square had Mafalda and Umbridge in a tizzy.

The ministry alert of underage magic in a Muggle area went off, but the trace didn't register who underage did the magic. They still don't know it was you two; and I won't give you away. Someday, you'll have to explain to me how you avoided the trace identifying you as underage.

Mr. Potter, I'll call Dumbledore to be with you when you're questioned; and your father to be with you Miss Weasley."

Harry said, "They won't be necessary, I guess Dumbledore never told you, Ginny and I are emancipated. We're adults as far as the law is concerned.

Can we stop at Gringotts before we go to the ministry; we have to let our instructor Goldenrune know we won't be able to meet him this afternoon."

Kingsley said, "Sorry, no. We have to go straight to the ministry; and right now. The press is here already and we can't have them learning about you two being involved and print stories about things that are classified."

Harry asked, "What's classified about a Death Eater attack? It should be published so people will recognize the danger they're in and can take steps to protect themselves."

Kingsley started them all walking to the Apparation point and said quietly so the other Aurors couldn't hear, "Higher ups at the ministry feel reports of Death Eater attacks will make people panic unnecessarily."

Ginny said loudly, "Not reporting Death Eater attacks is idiotic; it's irresponsible not to warn people of danger."

Kingsley and the two other Aurors looked at Ginny strangely and Kingsley said, "Miss Weasley, it would be best for your case and your father's job if you kept that opinion to yourself while at the ministry where people in power can hear you."

Harry said, "Ginny, he means that idiot Fudge is afraid if people learn Voldemort is back, he'll get kicked out of office."

The other two Aurors flinched when Harry said Voldemort, but not Kingsley; Harry made a mental note of it.

Harry asked, "If we can't stop at Gringotts, can I have my wand so I can send a message to Goldenrune."

Again, Kingsley said, "Sorry, no. You're suspects until cleared and suspects don't get to have their wands."

One of the other Aurors asked, "How would you send a message with your wand?"

Ginny answered, "By a talking Patronus of course."

The Auror said, "You can make a talking Patronus; how old are you Miss Weasley?"

She said, "Thirteen, I'll be fourteen in August."

The Auror looked at Kingsley who shrugged before disapparating out to the ministry. The other Auror said, "We'll be taking you by side along Apparation, if you've never done it before, it feels funny for a second."

Harry said, "That won't be necessary, we've Apparated to the ministry many times; we'll go by ourselves."

The Auror said, "So you can Apparate on your own and make a talking Patronus too. But we still can't let you do that, you're suspects and we have to take you in. If we let you go on your own, we'd have no way to tell where you're Apparating to, you could be escaping."

They arrived at a different place from the public Apparation point; Kingsley was waiting as their wands were checked. The man said, "This wand is Harry Potter's, holly and Phoenix feather, in use three and a half years.

This one is Ginny Weasley's wand, red maple and Phoenix feather, in use a year and a half. Ginny had used her grandmother's wand her first year and got her present wand in the summer after the Chamber of Secrets; her parents thought a new wand might make her feel better.

They were taken to separate rooms and retold their stories to Aurors who used their wands to record the interrogation using the Ditto charm. The Aurors asked many questions and made them repeat parts of their stories several times.

One thing they kept asked was why Harry and Ginny used such violent curses, why didn't they just stun the Death Eaters rather than killing them.

Ginny repeatedly claimed, with the Death Eaters firing unforgivable curses, there was such chaos she wanted to be sure the men hurting innocent people couldn't get back up and start hurting people again.

Harry simply said, "We didn't know how many of them there were at first; they were using unforgivables and I was afraid if I only stunned them, one of the others might enervate them and they could start cursing people all over again."

After two hours, and after asking for it, they were given loo breaks, followed by another two hours of questioning.

By then, other Aurors came in and talked to the ones questioning Harry and Ginny. Finally, Kingsley came in and said, "Your stories match each other and match the stories from other witnesses. You can go for now, but there may be more questions later.

When they got to the hall, they found Mr. Weasley and Dumbledore waiting for them.

Dumbledore said, "Harry, you can't be getting involved in fights with Death Eaters; you can't put yourself in danger like that. But worse than that, you killed those men.

Harry answered, "Those men were Death Eaters, they were torturing, and trying to kill innocent people; they had to be stopped."

Dumbledore said, "You should have stunned them, killing is the way of the Dark Arts, Voldemort's way; it's not necessary, and it is wrong to kill."

Harry asked, "Do you know how many Death Eaters were killed in the last war when you were in charge of the opposition to Voldemort? Ginny and I checked the records; six, only six in more than ten years of fighting. Another thirty-nine were stunned, captured, and sent to Azkaban.

None of those thirty-nine are still in prison; some got short sentences and were released, a few died there, the rest are the ones that escaped recently. Dozens of others that were captured never even went to prison; they were allowed to walk away free because they bribed the members of the Wizengmort or claimed to be under the Imperious curse.

To kill or capture those Death Eaters, one hundred thirty-seven Aurors and twelve members of the Order of the Phoenix were killed. Another twenty-seven were seriously injured, like Mad-eye and the Longbottoms.

I don't blame you for the Aurors' deaths. Responsibility for those deaths rests on the two idiot Ministers of Magic, Fudge and Bangold before him. They wouldn't allow Aurors to use deadly force, only stunners against Death Eaters. I do blame you for the deaths of the members of the order, including my parents, you gave them the same orders, never kill.

Do you know how many innocent people were killed during those ten years when you were in charge? Nobody knows for sure, but all estimates say it was well over five thousand innocent men, women, and children.

You headmaster may be a powerful wizard, but as the leader of the opposition to Voldemort, you're a total failure. If he hadn't been stopped because he attacked me, thousands more innocent people would have died and Tom would be ruling the country. Not that I'm taking credit for stopping him; it was my mother's love and sacrifice that did that.

This time, we're not going to stand by while innocent people are murdered and Death Eaters walk away to kill again. We're going to make sure none of them can bribe or talk their way out of what they do. Before I kill Voldemort, we intend to kill as many of his Death Eaters as possible. The fewer supporters he has left alive, the easier it will be for me to eventually get him."

Dumbledore looked disappointed and remained quiet for some time; eventually he said, "And by the way, speaking of fighting, I wish you wouldn't hex my Potions teacher next time you visit Hogwarts, he was out of class two days."

Harry answered, "Snape missed four days, but that's his own fault for coming after me and Ginny. We warned you that we wouldn't stand for his harassment."

Now Mr. Weasley spoke up, "Ginny, you shouldn't endanger yourself either. There are Aurors trained to fight and capture Death Eaters; it's not your job or the responsibility of any civilians to do that."

Ginny said, "You're wrong dad, it's everyone's responsibility to stop monsters from terrorizing people. There were no Aurors there in Diagon Alley when the attack started, and by the time they arrived, the Death Eaters could have killed dozens of innocent people and escaped to do it again.

I tried to explain that to you and mum last summer; this is exactly why Harry and I were training for almost two years. We were in a position to save innocent lives and we did; and we'll probably have to do it again many times before this war is over."

You and mom better prepare because soon our whole family, the whole magical world, is going to be involved. Voldemort will see to that.

Let's go home Harry, I'm dead on my feet and we never did get our injuries healed."

Before they left, Harry got Dumbledore to the side and asked, "Headmaster, have you learned anything about the possibility of the snake being a Horcrux?"

Dumbledore answered, "My reference books don't come right out and say it; but they indicate it is possible. I'll keep checking."

Later, at home, Harry's scar throbbed, apparently, Voldemort wasn't happy after losing six of his supporters.

The next morning, Bandi got the paper and the story on the front page claimed a bunch of rowdy youth vandalized Diagon Alley; no mention was made of Death Eaters, or Harry and Ginny.

Harry said, "Those morons at the ministry are hiding the truth; we'll have to think of a way to alert people of the danger."

Their next class, they tried to explain to Goldenrune why they didn't return to the last class; but he said, "I know what you did, and that your ministry forced you to miss the class.

I don't hold such things against you; what you did, defending young ones and families from evil, is highly regarded in the Goblin Nation. Goblin families, especially our young ones, are considered to be precious."

April passed quietly with Harry and Ginny busy with classes and studying. No progress was made about Horcruxes.

Harry's lawsuit against Dumbledore to recover the money Dumbledore gave to Harry's aunt and uncle for his care finally came up in Muggle court. Harry and Ginny were there with their solicitor, but Dumbledore never showed, only his solicitor.

Harry's solicitor presented the Gringotts' copy of the will that specifically stated Harry was not to go to his aunt's care, the proof that Dumbledore sealed the official will and later it mysteriously disappeared. After Harry told of the abuse he suffered while at the Dursleys', Dumbledore's solicitor conceded the suit.

The court awarded Harry restitution of all monies and one thousand Galleons in punitive damages. Harry donated the money to St. Mungos. The money didn't matter to either Harry or Dumbledore since both were so wealthy; winning the case was a way of showing Dumbledore that he couldn't manipulate Harry any longer.

The first week of May, McGonagall flued to Potter Manor and told Harry he had to meet Mr. Crouch and the other champions at the Quidditch Pitch at eight on the evening of May 12th to learn about the third task.

They flued to McGonagall's office because they didn't want anyone but Ron and Hermione to know of their Phoenix Animagus ability. Ginny visited Ron and Hermione while Harry walked to the Quidditch Pitch with Cedric.

Crouch explained that a hedge maze was growing and the champions would have to find their way through, avoiding or overcoming dangers on the way to the Tri-Wizard cup. The first person to touch the cup would be the winner.

After returning home, Ginny told Harry that Hermione had transferred Tom's memories to Ron and he started revising them. Hermione was pleased with her progress and Ron's.

The first weekend of June was a Hogsmeade weekend for the Hogwarts' students and Hermione asked Harry and Ginny to meet her and Ron at the Three Broomsticks Pub so they could talk over summer plans.

She was trying to convince her parents to let her stay at Potter Manor so she could help Harry with the Horcrux hunt, though she didn't tell her parents that reason, she told them she wanted to take her OWLs and NEWTs early and Ginny could help her study.

Ron of course also could use help with revising Tom's memories; and he had asked his father rather than his mother if he could live at Potter Manor. Mr. Weasley hadn't made a decision as of yet.

That Saturday, Ginny and Harry Apparated to the Shrieking Shack, out of sight of Hogsmeade, walked part way into town, and waited until they saw student coming in from Hogwarts. When the crowd was thick enough for them to blend in, they walked to the pub.

Several of their friends said hello and tried to stop them to talk, but Ginny and Harry made excuses to avoid telling people where they were living and what they were doing since leaving school.

They found Ron and Hermione at a corner table and put up Silencing charms to avoid being overheard by others. First Hermione, then Ron, gave reports on their progress with Tom's memories. Both were running and working out, and felt their magic power growing stronger.

Hermione had finished all the academic memories and was revising summer memories looking for Horcrux clues that Harry of Ginny might have missed. She decided to take the Animagus vision quest potion; but still wasn't sure she wanted to be an Animagus.

Ron finished Tom's fourth year and half the fifth year memories and was happy that his magical power was strong enough that he could do the advanced spells he was learning. He couldn't wait to do a vision quest and definitely wanted to be an Animagus.

Harry and Ginny talked a bit about the new curses and wards they learned to cast in Nordic, Egyptian, and Aramaic runes and how to break those wards. But Ron got bored, he and Hermione were more interested in hearing about the fight in Diagon Alley, and if Harry and Ginny were in trouble with the ministry for killing the Death Eaters.

Harry said the ministry hadn't given them trouble so far; but Auror Shackelbolt kept telling them the investigation was still ongoing. They told Ron and Hermione outright that, if they were going to help fight Death Eaters, it would probably be necessary for them to kill in order to save their own life or the life of another innocent person. They warned them to prepare mentally to do it if needed.

Suddenly there were screams heard from outside then an explosion.

Ginny said, "Not again."

The four of them stood and moved to the door and looked into the street.


	13. Chapter 13 - The Third Task

Chapter XIII – The War and the Third Task

When they looked out the front door of the pub, they couldn't see anything at first, but soon, students came running from the direction of the far end of town. Harry thought "Sonorus" and his voice became a hundred times louder than normal; he yelled, "Everyone head back to Hogwarts. Sixth and seventh years, help the third and fourth years and watch out for ambushes and traps on the way back to the castle."

After ending the Sonorus, he said, "Ron, Hermione, follow us; you watch our backs and flanks with shields, let me and Ginny worry about fighting any Death Eaters.

It was just past noon so the sun was directly south. The main street of Hogsmeade ran East-West, so Harry and Ginny, closely followed by Ron and Hermione, walked along the southern side to stay in the shadows. As they passed each shop, they told any shoppers, and the shopkeepers to head to Hogwarts.

The street toward the west was empty now; all the students and town's people had either fled or were hiding in the buildings. In the distance, they could hear explosions and yells apparently coming from the Death Eaters as they blasted buildings and set fires.

Finally, Harry spotted them about a hundred yards down the street. He stopped to assess the situation. There seemed to be two groups of Death Eaters, the closer group had twelve people arranged in six teams of two.

They were walking quickly and steadily up the center of the street looking at the storefronts only occasionally firing a curse into a store. Harry guessed they fired only when they saw a face in a door or window to keep people trapped inside while they advanced rapidly to take control of the entire town.

The second group was another fifty yards behind the first group. They were going into stores for a few seconds to a minute, then coming back out and blasting the storefronts setting the buildings on fire. Harry guessed while inside, they were either looking for victims or loot.

This second group was too far to get an accurate count, but Harry estimated at least a dozen.

He said, "Ron and Hermione go back toward the castle. Tell …."

Both started to protest before Harry finished and he yelled for them to be quiet; then he continued, "There'll be teachers and possibly Aurors coming from the school in five or ten minutes. Someone has to give them a sitrep so they can form a strategy; then you can return with them.

Tell them there are two groups each with a dozen or more Death Eaters. I'm putting up anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey wards to stop them from escaping. Ginny and I will get behind the far group and try to eliminate as many as we can and push the rest toward the castle and out of the town before they destroy it and kill the townspeople.

The schools wards should stop them from reaching the castle trapping them between us and the Aurors when they arrive. Now hurry and find Dumbledore or whoever else is in charge."

Ron and Hermione left, Harry put up the wards, then said, "We'll transform to our Phoenix forms, flame behind them and transform back to human form. Use the drilling spell 'Auger maximums' first, it's silent, and if we're lucky, we can take out a few before they even know we're there.

Once they see us and fire back, we'll transform again and flame to a new location always trying to get behind them, then keep doing that as long as we can.

Ready?"

Ginny nodded and transformed. They reappeared ten yards behind the last Death Eater; and as soon as they were in human form again, cast their first drilling curses.

The Auger spell, meant for digging fence posts holes in rocky ground, drilled three-inch holes through the backs of two men, instantly they threw the spells again and two more black robed figures dropped. Another Death Eater saw them and yelled.

As five Death Eaters turned to face them, Harry and Ginny raised shields. Harry said, "Ginny, flame to that space between shops four buildings over, I'll stay here a few seconds to give you time to fire at their backs. Some of them will have to turn their shields to face you showing their backs to me. I'll drill them and you take the ones that are still facing me with their backs to you."

Ginny transformed and flamed out; Harry put up an Aramaic flat mirror shield with his wand and fired wandless cutting curses with his left hand. Some type of deep purple flame spell from one of the Death Eaters hit Harry's mirror, reflected back, and just missed the original caster.

Then an Auger curse came from the opening where Ginny was and killed one of the men facing Harry, a second Auger curse dropped another. Two Death Eaters turned to respond to Ginny's attack and Harry took advantage of it to hit one with a severing curse, cutting his leg off above the knee; he fell to the ground bleeding severely from the stump.

There were seven Death Eaters still standing when one yelled, "They're all around us; I'm getting out of here."

Several tried to twist and disapparate, but Harry's wards stopped them.

One yelled, "It's a trap, there are anti-Apparation wards up, use your emergency Portkeys."

A couple pulled on silver charms hanging around their necks on chains; again, nothing happened.

Two stunners came from buildings; it seemed either shoppers or shop keepers had worked up enough courage to start fighting back. One stunner missed completely; the other bounced off a shield.

All the Death Eaters were now holding up shields, so Harry started shooting blasting curses at the ground in front of the men. The first one knocked the man over and his shield collapsed; Harry quickly blasted him.

The others began to run toward the center of town, either to get away from Harry and Ginny, or to join the other group. Ginny nailed one more before they were too far away for curses to be cast accurately.

Harry rejoined Ginny and she asked, "Should we check the stores, people may be hurt and need help."

Harry replied, "There are plenty of people around to help each other, we have to help fight the remaining Death Eaters. We were lucky, we caught this first group by surprise; it won't be so easy from now on because they know we're here.

I can hear fighting going on in the direction of Hogwarts. We don't know how many teachers, Aurors, and students came to protect the other side of town; or if they're in trouble and need our help.

Instead of flaming over, let's walk and make sure none of those that ran from us ducked into a store to hide or take hostages. We don't want them to get behind us."

Ginny took the south side of the street, Harry the north side. At first, they called into each store and either waited until people came forward to meet them and say the store was clear and safe. If nobody came out, they went into the store to look around and make sure it was empty.

The first few stores went slowly, but since there was no more noise of fighting on this side of town, people began to come out on their own to check out the situation. That allowed Harry and Ginny to start moving more quickly back toward the Three Broomsticks.

All the fighting now seemed to around that area and they approached cautiously until they could see the situation.

Ron and Hermione just passed through the main gates of Hogwarts onto the grounds when they met Dumbledore and Flitwick headed toward town. Other students and town's folk were still streaming past headed to safety in the castle.

Hermione stopped and said, "Headmaster, we need to tell you something important."

Dumbledore said, "Miss Granger, students reported an attack on Hogsmeade."

She replied, "Yes headmaster, that's what we have to tell you. Harry told us to find you …"

Dumbledore interrupted her and asked, "Harry was in town? Where is he now?"

Hermione continued, "After he told us to find you, he and Ginny went to fight. He said he would put up anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey wards to trap the Death Eaters. He told us to find you or any Aurors that may be here and report the situation.

There are more than two dozen Death Eaters split into two groups. They came from the far side of town and when we left to find you, they were moving toward the Three Broomsticks cursing people and blasting buildings."

Dumbledore turned to Flitwick and said, "Filius, wait here, I already sent a message to the ministry and Aurors should be arriving shortly. Tell them what Miss Granger said; I'm going to find Harry before he gets hurt.

Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, stay here and help the students returning; if any are injured, get them to the hospital wing."

Ron said, "Harry told us, after we reported to you, we could come back and help fight."

Dumbledore said, "Mr. Weasley, I cannot take time to argue with you, do as I say."

Dumbledore turned and hurried toward the town.

Two minutes later, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, and Parvati approached from town. Seamus said, "Blimey, what a mess in town, they're still blasting away at shops."

Hermione said, "Dumbledore wants you lot to stay here with Professor Flitwick; and in case anyone comes back injured, help them to the hospital wing."

Hermione and Ron started toward town, and Dean asked, "Where are you going, there are Death Eaters down there."

Ron answered, "Harry and Ginny are there fighting; we promised to come back and help after we told Dumbledore what was happening."

They only got just outside the main gate when a dozen Aurors Apparated right in front of them. Hermione heard a tall black Auror ask the returning crowd, "Who's in charge here?"

Hermione went over, pointed back to Flitwick, and said, "Professor Flitwick, but I can tell you what's happening; we were there and came to find help."

He said, "I'm Kingsley Shackelbolt, Auror in charge of the day shift. What can you tell me about the situation?"

Hermione repeated what she told Dumbledore, then added, "Professor Dumbledore just went down two minutes ago; Harry and Ginny were going to attack from the far side of town to push the Death Eaters toward here and trap them between us."

Kingsley asked, "Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley are there?"

Hermione said, "Yes, they said they would take out as many Death Eaters as they could and push the rest this way."

Kingsley turned to his Aurors and said, "A team of two on each side, go ten meters into the woods to watch our flanks for ambushes as we head to town. The rest of you follow me and be ready."

Hermione and Ron followed behind the Aurors until one yelled, "You kids, get back; it's too dangerous for you to get close."

Ron said, "We promised Harry and Ginny to come back and help."

Kingsley turned and asked, "Can you two fight as good as them?"

Hermione, who had trained for months, said, "Yes we can; well, almost as good as them. They've been training longer, but we're training too."

Kingsley laughed and said, "Just stay behind my men and don't do anything stupid."

Dumbledore reached the near side of town with one thought, prevent Harry from getting killed. The prophecy said Harry was the only one that could kill Voldemort, if Harry was killed before time; there was no hope for British wizardry.

Dumbledore disillusioned himself so he could look for Harry; he couldn't afford to get caught up in the fighting and delayed while Harry was in danger. He tried last time after the fight in Diagon Alley to warn the boy not to get involved in battles, but Harry was so stubbornly noble.

Harry thought he could save every innocent life, and would risk his own to try. Dumbledore though perhaps he would need to tell Harry the full prophecy to convince him to keep safe until the right time for the final fight with Voldemort.

There was heavy firing in the center of town so Dumbledore moved cautiously avoiding the fire while searching for Harry. Miss Granger said Harry was going to the far side of town, so Dumbledore decided to circle around the heaviest fighting to begin his search on the other side of the battle.

The Aurors, with Ron and Hermione right behind, reached the first building before they saw the Death Eaters ahead. Kingsley used hand signals to order the flankers on each side to move behind the buildings and swing in when they reached to location of the fighting.

Then he had four Aurors move to one side of the road, and he took the last three to the other side. Ron and Hermione followed behind the Aurors that were with Kingsley. They moved closer to where the nearest Death Eaters were firing curses; three of them were visible from this position.

Kingsley signaled the Aurors to open fire and ten stunners shot toward the three Death Eaters, eight from the Aurors, and two from Ron and Hermione. Two of the Death Eaters were hit and fell, the third had a shield up and the one stunner that hit it bounced off, two others were close, but missed.

The man yelled, "Aurors" and began to run back toward the center of town. Four more stunners came from the flankers and dropped him before he got ten feet.

Kingsley signaled everyone to move up; they picked up the three wands and used Incarcerous to tie up the stunned men before moving forward again. They only went fifty feet before curses came flying at them. Two were the green killing curse, but fortunately, both missed.

The Aurors were firing stunners but couldn't move further forward without exposing themselves to more killing curses from the Death Eaters.

Kingsley said, "Two of you go between the buildings, join with the other flankers and try to move far enough down the street to get behind them. He signaled for two Aurors on the other side of the road to do the same thing.

Then a killing curse caught the other Auror next to Kingsley and he fell into the street. Kingsley said, "You kids should go back; it's too dangerous. Besides, right now we're pinned here so there's no way for you to be of any help."

At the same time, Ron and Hermione said together, "No, I'm staying; I promised Harry."

On the far side of the battle, from the doorway of Gladrags dress and robe shop, Harry and Ginny evaluated the situation. The five Death Eaters that ran from them had reached, and were talking to, the first group of a dozen Death Eaters. The apparent leader pointed back their way; it seemed clear that he was ordering the five men to go back and fight.

They started back in the direction of Harry and Ginny, but slowly and cautiously.

Harry said, "The door to Zonko's is open, flame in there and let them pass by. When they are past you, I'll attract their attention and when they turn their backs to you, we'll work it like before. If they turn toward you, I'll hit them from behind, they can't shield both their front and back."

Ginny disappeared and Harry waited until the five were ten feet past Zonko's' door before firing blasting curses. The Death Eaters hadn't seemed to learn from past experience, they all turned toward Harry. Three, scared by Harry blasts, set their shields in Harry's direction. Ginny drilled holes in two of them, the third spun his shield back to face her and Harry dropped him.

The other two men were braver and instead of shields, they fired severing curses at Harry. The first one hit the shield Harry hastily erected and collapsed it; he quickly dodged left, but the second curse caught his side and made a large cut across his ribs.

Ginny hit one of them before they could fire at Harry again; the remaining one realized he was in the open street with fire coming from two directions. He panicked and just ran.

Without a shield, he was an easy target for Harry and Ginny's cutting and blasting curses.

With all those Death Eaters down, Harry joined Ginny in Zonko's where they had a better view. She saw the blood on his robes and quickly cast a healing spell to seal the cut and stop the bleeding.

Way down the street past the Three Broomsticks, they saw red stunner fire coming in their direction. That meant someone, either teachers, Aurors, or brave town folk, was fighting at that end of the town.

Harry said, "I told Ron and Hermione to let Dumbledore and the Aurors know that we would push the Death Eaters in that direction. I guess it's time to do that."

Ginny pointed to the Three Broomsticks and said, "Looks like Madam Rosmerta and her staff have put up wards and blocked the doors and windows; they're fighting back.

If we get up on the roof on this side of the street, we can fire down on the Death Eaters. They can't get any closer to the pub because of Rosmerta's defensive fire. They'll be forced to move at least two or three building farther toward Hogwarts to avoid our fire."

Harry said, "Unless they make a dash back the way they came; it would be tricky for them, but if they panic, a few of them might try it. I'll stay here and shoot down; you go back to Gladrags and be ready in case any try to run that direction.

I'll give you one minute to get in position."

Harry flamed to the roof, Ginny to Gladrags.

Harry waited one minute, then began to fire blasting curses into the street. The first one actually hit and killed a Death Eater; none of his others spells got close enough since the remaining Death Eaters began running. Again, a couple tried Apparating and using their Portkeys, but soon gave up that idea since Harry's wards held.

Most of the Death Eaters ran in the direction of Hogwarts where Harry hoped there were enough Aurors to defend the position; two did try to head back toward Ginny. Harry nailed one from the roof; Ginny got the other one as he almost ran right into her.

Now that the center of town was clear, Harry and Ginny met near the Three Broomsticks. They yelled to Rosmerta it was safe to come out, then followed the fleeing Death Eaters in the direction of Hogwarts.

Kingsley was waiting quietly for the men he sent around the back to get into position and flush out the Death Eaters that had him pinned down.

Ron wasn't as patient, he kept saying, "We have to do something, Harry and Ginny could be in trouble, hurt or even dead; and we're just sitting here."

Hermione wasn't much better, every time Ron complained, she would add, "We should go around through the woods to the other side of town; that's where Harry said they were going."

Finally, Kingsley said, "Both of you shut up and have patience, my men will be in position soon. That's our plan, and upsetting the plan by moving out of your position is what lets criminals escape and gets people killed."

He hardly finished speaking when five Death Eaters rushed into the open street and came right at them. Kingsley and the Aurors on the other side of the street started shooting stunners, one after the other. Three of the Death Eaters collapsed, the other two were missed by the Aurors and were still running.

They made it past the place when Ron and Hermione were waiting before the teens could react. But as they continued to run, Hermione got off a trip jinx, which caused one to fall, and Ron managed to hit the other with Jelly-legs, which didn't stop him, but slowed him enough to let an Auror stun him from behind. Kingsley got the one Hermione tripped.

They picked up the five wands and tied up the five stunned men then levitated them together in one area. Kingsley yelled, "Clear on the east. Then he said in a normal voice, "Collins, stay here and guard them, you kids go back and check the three we stunned earlier. If they're awake, do you think you can stun them again?"

Ron nodded yes, but Hermione said, "We don't want to go back; we want to look for Harry and Ginny."

Kingsley sounded like Dumbledore when he said, "I don't have time to argue; do what I told you."

Ron and Hermione grudgingly headed back the half block to where the first three men were laying next to each other with Flitwick guarding them.

The little Professor asked, "What happened in town? Are any of our students hurt?"

Hermione answered, "We don't know, we only got another half block before being pinned down. The head Auror sent us back to check these three; but since you are here professor, we'll go back to town and find out what happened.

There are five more Death Eaters tied up over there, maybe we should move these three over with the others. It would be easier to guard them all in one place."

Flitwick, Hermione, and Ron each levitated one Death Eater and moved them to where Auror Collins was guarding the other five.

Harry and Ginny heard curses getting cast and when they got close enough, they saw seven Death Eaters. Still unable to Apparate out or use a Portkey because of Harry's wards, the Death Eaters were trying to hide behind street displays of goods from the local stores. The seven robed figures were pinned down by stunners; some were coming at them from the street ahead, others from between several buildings.

Whoever was firing the stunners couldn't seem to get good angles for their shots since most of the stunners were hitting the displays or the storefronts behind.

Harry said to Ginny, "Lets disillusion ourselves; then I'll work my way along the south side of the street, you take the north. If we can get an angle and hit a couple of them the rest will have to surrender."

Once they were almost invisible, they move into position. Harry got sight of one figure shooting green killing curses from behind a crate into the opening between the buildings on the other side of the street.

That seemed to be the strategy of all the Death Eaters because more killing curses from the other side of the street were being shot up the street and into openings on Harry's side. He drilled the man he could see with the nearly silent Auger maximums curse and then moved forward until he got an angle on the next Death Eater.

Ginny move forward slowly to make the best use of her disillusionment charm, moving fast causes the spell to shimmer and could allow you to be spotted. She saw two Death Eaters only about five feet from each other in the narrow space between a florist shop and a cart full of discount flower pots.

She figured if she hit only one, the other was bound to notice and either run, or fire back; she needed a spell that would take out both at the same time. A blasting hex would do it, but she hesitated. A blasting hex would destroy the cart, all the flower pots in it, and do damage to the front of the shop costing the shop owner a lot of money. It could also hurt anyone inside if they were close enough to the front of the shop.

She had to do something, so she decided to take a chance; she fired a drilling curse at the nearer man with the hope that, with all the noise of the battle, when he fell, the farther man wouldn't hear it. That would give her time to hit the second man before he realized what happened and could fire back at her.

She cast the spell and did hit the closer man; but as he dropped, the second man fired a killing curse across the street. Someone dressed in Auror's robes fell forward into the street from between buildings; Ginny realized he must have been hit by that killing curses. Her anger at herself flared, if she hadn't hesitated in using the blasting curse, that Auror would still be alive.

Her hesitation allowed the second man to notice his friend had been hit from behind. He turned and blindly fired a killing curse in her direction. It missed her, but hit the window next to her sending a shower of large glass shards that penetrated her robe. Two of them stuck in her back.

She gasped in pain, and in her anger, she fired a stronger than intended blasting curse killing the remaining Death Eater. As she originally feared, the blast also blew in the front window and door of the shop, and hurled splinter from the wooden the cart and ceramic shrapnel from the flower pots more than thirty feet into the street.

That must have scared everyone, because suddenly the street was full of Death Eaters running away from the blast area, most were dropped within a few seconds by stunners coming from both sides of the street, two made it about twenty-five feet toward Hogwarts before getting stunned.

Silence fell for ten seconds before a slow deep voice yelled, "Clear on the east."

Another voice yelled, "Clear on the west."

A few people in what Harry recognized as Auror robes walked out into the street from several places. Harry cleared his disillusionment charm and yelled, "Don't fire, we're bystanders caught up when the attack started."

He saw Ginny reappear as she also removed her disillusionment charm. He could see the back of her robe was all sliced up and covered in blood.

One of the Aurors said, "Throw your wands into the street and come out with your hands up."

Harry and Ginny's wands landed in the street and they came out as ordered. Harry yelled, "She's hurt, I need to help her."

The Auror said, "Potter, Weasley, I should have guessed; which one of you cast that blasting hex?"

Ginny said, "I did," she pointed to the body of the dead Auror in the street and continued, "there were two of them behind the cart and I lost it when I saw that Auror hit by the killing curse."

Then she turned to show the Auror her back and said, "He blew up a window by me with a killing curse. I can't see or feel anything, but I think I was hit by the glass."

Kingsley came up the street and said, "Potter, Weasley, your friend with the bushy hair told me you were here somewhere. You'll have to come in to the ministry for interrogation like last time, but right now, tell me what to expect as we check the town."

Harry said, "First Ginny is hurt, she needs to get to the castle so Madam Pomfrey can help her."

Kingsley looked at Ginny's back and said, "McPherson, use you emergency Portkey to take Miss Weasley to St. Mungos."

Ginny said, "No, St. Mungos isn't safe with Death Eaters wandering around. I want Madam Pomfrey to treat me."

Kingsley said, "McPherson, side along Miss Weasley to the castle and get her to the hospital wing."

Harry said, "I want to go with her."

Kingsley said, "In a minute, first report on the situation. McPherson, go now."

The Auror took Ginny's arm and tried to Apparated the two of them away; nothing happened.

Harry said, "I set up anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey wards to keep the Death Eaters from escaping; I'll have to remove them."

As soon as Harry took the wards down, McPherson Apparated away with Ginny.

Kingsley said, "The faster you report, the sooner you'll be able to join her. What's the situation?"

Harry said, "Loads of Death Eater bodies. They all had black robes but only a few had the white Death Eater masks, the ones without masks look young, late teens or early twenties. I recognized a few as Slytherins that finished school last year or two years back. I think they could be new recruits and this attack could be their initiation ceremony.

We didn't see any civilian casualties, but we didn't take time to check every building. There were plenty of town's people around to help the injured; we thought it was more important to stop the attack."

Kingsley laughed and said, "You're fourteen and she's thirteen; but you call twenty-year-old Death Eaters young.

Williams, Hartley, Symington, go check the rest of the town. Arrange for medical help for the injured and cleanup crews to remove bodies and fix damages. Keep your eyes open in case there's still a Death Eater or two hiding somewhere.

Potter, you can go to your girlfriend now. Your friends are worried about you; I'll let them know where you are."

Just then, Dumbledore came from the far end of town, and Ron and Hermione from the Hogwarts end.

Dumbledore spoke first, "Mr. Potter, I told you not to get involved in fights with Death Eaters. It's too dangerous and the Aurors are trained to fight and capture them alive; you are not properly trained."

Harry said, "I told you my intentions back at the ministry; I haven't changed my mind, so stop trying to tell me what to do.

Hermione, Ron, are you alright?"

Hermione answered for both of them, "Yes, we're fine; are you and Ginny okay? Where is she? What happened with the fighting?"

Harry said, "I'm fine; but I can't talk now. Ginny was hurt and taken to Madam Pomfrey; I have to go check on her. Then Auror Shackelbolt is taking us to the ministry to be interrogated."

Ron asked, "How bad was Ginny hurt?"

Harry said, "I don't know, I'll be in the hospital wing with her, I'll see you both there."

Rather than turning into his Phoenix form to flame directly through the castle's wards and let everyone learn he was an Animagus, Harry disapparated. Kingsley looked at Ron and Hermione and said, "We'll need statements from both of you to; but you can return to the school for now, one of my men will contact you."

By the time Harry got to the hospital, Madam had removed the glass shards from Ginny's back and healed the wounds. She asked, "Mr. Potter, are you injured too?"

Harry said, "I was cut on the ribs, but Ginny healed it like you taught us. I'm fine, how is Ginny?"

Madam replied, "She's resting, neither piece of glass penetrated very deep. The blood made it look worse than it was. I want her to rest a few hours while her skin knits, then she can leave.

Let me check your wound to be sure it's totally healed."

Madam was still looking at Harry's ribs when Ron and Hermione arrived. Once they were assured that Harry and Ginny were okay, they spent two hours exchanging stories about the battle before an Auror came and said Kingsley wanted Harry and Ginny at the ministry if they felt up to it.

Harry and Ginny spent all day and late into the night giving their statements and being questioned. In the wee hours of the morning when they were told they could leave, Kingsley said, "Officially, I have to warn you that, if in the future you continue to kill instead of capturing people, you will be arrested.

Unofficially, I want to warn you that certain people in the ministry quietly support Voldemort. They are upset with you and will find a way to stop you one way or the other. If they can't arrest you, they'll have you kill. There's a lot you don't understand about the corruption at the ministry."

Harry said, "We understand a lot more than you think. We've been digging into old records about who helped suspected Death Eaters get off after the first war; and what bribes they got in return. When we have enough evidence, we plan on turning it over to Madam Bones; we trust her, but very few others at the ministry."

Kingsley said, "I take it Miss Weasley's father is another you trust; but Dumbledore isn't."

Harry said, "We don't think Dumbledore is corrupt; but he has his own ideas about how to handle Voldemort and he refuses to listen to us. He thinks no Death Eater should be killed; that all of them can be rehabilitated to see the light and can be saved.

He also thinks we should let him plan every detail of our lives and what we want doesn't matter."

Ginny said, "We learned he even planned who he wanted Harry to marry, where Harry was to live, every small detail about Harry's future. That's why we left Hogwarts, so we can live the way we want."

Kingsley said, "I always knew Dumbledore was a manipulative old man; but I never thought he would be so bad as to run every aspect of a young boy's life."

Ginny said, "Young girls lives to; using love potions on twelve and thirteen-year-olds; and sealing the Potters' wills to keep Harry under his control instead of following the Potters' wishes."

Kingsley said, "Last summer, he asked me and a couple of others to find you and bring you back. We thought you were just being rebellious and he just wanted to keep you safe.

I was leery because he alluded to using Legilimency and Veritas serum without authorization; even on children."

Harry said, "We, Ginny and I, were being rebellious; now you know why."

Kingsley said, "Since the attack in Diagon Alley, I've been checking on you two. Other than the common knowledge about Harry stopping Voldemort as a baby and him being in the Tri-Wizard Tournament this year, there's not much about either of you other than birth dates and parent and sibling names."

Ginny said, "We're thirteen and fourteen, how much information can there be about us?"

Kingsley said, "Not much, yet; but if you keep getting in the middle of trouble, I think in the next few years there'll be a lot.

If you are willing, I want to help. I think you have the right idea on how to handle Death Eaters; stunning them so they can claim at their trial to under the Imperious curse and get released doesn't work. I'll answer anything you want to know about me if it will help get you to trust me."

Harry looked at the Auror and said, "Kingsley Thomas Shackelbolt, British citizen born June 14, 1962 in Freeport Bahamas. Mother Leslie, father Thomas, one brother married with one son. One sister married with two sons and one daughter. All family still living in the Bahamas.

You came to England at age eleven to attend Hogwarts, received eight NEWTs. Your score in your DADA NEWT was the highest on record until last summer when two other people both scored three points higher.

After Hogwarts, you went straight to the Auror Academy, then training under Alastor Moody. By the way, he's man with the wooden leg that was with you in Trafalgar Square if you want to hear his life history.

Since then, you avoided ministry politics but move up through the ranks because of your skills and dedication to the job. No wife, or steady girlfriend though you date occasionally; but never someone you work with.

Anything else you want to tell us?"

Kingsley laughed and said, "I see I'm not the only one with curiosity; no, nothing else you need to know. But let me guess, you two are the ones that topped my DADA score last year."

Ginny asked, "What's your opinion of Mad-eye; will he continue to do anything Dumbledore asks, or do you think we could get him to help us?"

Kingsley said, "I think he'll help you; he's known Dumbledore a long time, but he was already questioning Dumbledore's motives last summer while we were searching for you. With all the things Dumbledore has asked him to do to you at the beginning of this year before you left Hogwarts, I think he's had enough of Dumbledore's tactics.

If you want, I'll approach him."

Harry said, "Okay, do that. We'll be too busy for the next three weeks. We have our classes with Goldenrune and the third task to prepare for."

McGonagall flued to Potter Manor on the 20th and told Harry they were invited to meet with the other champions and their families starting a nine on the day of the third task. The Krums, the Delecors, and the Diggorys, already committed to come and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley wanted to come if they knew Harry and Ginny would be there.

Harry and Ginny said they would be there at nine.

The morning and afternoon of the 24th passed pleasantly, the Weasleys got along well with the other families. They all toured the castle in the morning and the grounds in the afternoon. All the families sat together to eat and Ginny noticed that her oldest brother Bill, who came with her parents to see the task, was closely watching Fleur and she returned his attention.

At seven, McGonagall called the champions to head to the tent to get final instructions; and called all the others to start moving to the grandstand.

Cedric was in first place and allowed to start into the maze. Harry and Viktor were tied for second place and went in five minutes after Cedric; Fleur went in five minutes after Harry and Viktor.

Harry was not in a hurry because he didn't intend to win; he thought since he was forced into competing, he would hang back and let the three champions that were rightfully chosen to work it out among themselves. He walked slowly just wanting to avoid getting hurt by any of the obstacles like animals or traps.

He heard a girl's scream, he figured it had to be Fleur, and he saw red sparks go up; she was out of the running.

Harry avoided two traps, fought off a blast-ended Skrewt, and backed away from a Sphinx rather than trying to pass. He heard spell firing nearby and rounded a corner to find Krum fighting the Skrewt; it knocked Krum down and was about to kill and eat him when Harry hit it with a blasting curse that blew off one of the legs. It began to move toward Harry and he blasted off two more legs on the same side; the Skrewt fell over.

It tried to get up several times before it stopped moving. Harry carefully snuck by just in case the Skrewt was only playing dead. Krum was still unconscious and looked to be badly hurt; Harry shot up red sparks and waited until Hagrid showed up to carry Krum out of the maze.

It looked like Cedric would be the winner; but knowing Fleur and Krum both had been hurt, Harry decided to keep going in case Cedric ran into trouble and also needed help.

Turning a corner, Harry saw the Tri-wizard cup ahead and Cedric only fifty feet from it. Harry stopped to wait for Cedric to grab the cup, but then saw something Cedric couldn't. An Acromantula as big as a Hippogriff was walking toward Cedric over the tops of the hedgerows.

Harry yelled and pointed, but it was too late; the Acromantula grabbed Cedric with its two front legs and lifted him off the ground. Cedric fired curse after curse but they just bounced off the tough spider's exoskeleton.

Harry used the same tactic that worked on the Skrewt; he blasted off legs on one side until the giant spider fell over. It dropped Cedric as it fell, but when he landed, his leg snapped.

Harry got to him and said, "Fleur and Krum are both out, if you can stand, I'll help you get the cup."

Blood was coming from Cedric's mouth and he could hardly talk, but whispered, "Think ribs broken, lung punctured; signal for help."

Harry sent up red sparks and waited with Cedric. This time McGonagall showed up. She conjured a stretcher and before she began moving Cedric to the hospital, he said, "Harry, take the cup and end this. You have to, nobody else left."

Harry walked over and grabbed the cup; it was a Portkey and took him back in front of the grandstands. People were cheering and Ginny came down to stand with him. Dumbledore and Fudge came to get their picture taken with Harry.

Fudge said to Ginny, "Little girl, move away so we can take some pictures."

Ginny said, "Harry and I are partners, we stay together."

Fudge said, "You can see him later, this is an official picture for the paper and is only for people directly involved; the winner, his headmaster, and the Minister of Magic since the ministry finances the school."

Harry said, "Then neither you nor Dumbledore should be in the picture. I don't go to Hogwarts; I left because of Dumbledore interfering with my life. And I don't get any money from the ministry, so you have no business in the picture. The only one that should be in the picture with me is Ginny since we prepared for the tasks together."

The minister started to question Harry; but Ginny interrupted with, "Ask Dumbledore to explain it; he's responsible for the whole mess."

Harry and Ginny didn't wait for a picture, they walked away to go celebrate with Ron and Hermione. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walked along with them, and Bill, Fred, and George to.

Harry said, "Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, I know you had objections to me and Ginny training to face Voldemort. And you especially objected to Ginny moving in with me. I hope we can forget the past and be friends again.

We plan to go to Potter Manor to celebrate; if you're willing to come, first I'll have to tell you the secret, you're welcome to Bill."

The Weasleys all agreed, Harry gave them the secret, and they celebrated until the early hours of the morning. Mimsey made enough food for twenty people; there was Butterbeer for everyone and Mr. Weasley and Bill had two Firewhiskeys each.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley flued home after midnight, around the same time, Bill Apparated to his own flat, which he had rented after Gringotts, transferred him from Egypt back to London. Hermione, Ron, Fred, and George decided to spend the night rather than returning to Hogwarts and getting caught sneaking in by Filch, Snape, or another teacher.

Hermione was nervous about going to take her OWLs by herself at the ministry like Ginny and Harry did, so McGonagall arranged to slip her in with the fifth years so she could take them the last two weeks of the school year.

She finished them ten days ago, before the day of the Death Eater attack on Hogsmeade; but since she hadn't got her scores yet she kept bringing up the subject of convincing her parents to allow her to move to Potter Manor.

The morning after the third task, after she brought the subject up again at breakfast, Harry and Ginny agreed to come to her house next week to try and help convince her parents to let her live at Potter Manor because she was taking her NEWTs in August and Ginny and Harry could help her revise.

Harry said, "You know Hermione, once you pass your NEWTs, you can apply for emancipation like we did. Then your parents won't be able to stop you from moving."

She said, "I know, but I don't want to anger my parents; I'd rather they agree to letting me live with you lot."

With her finally calmed down, she, Ron, Fred, and George flued to McGonagall's office so everyone could pack their trunks and catch the train home.

Since she made that decision to take her NEWTS and not return to Hogwarts, Hermione had been researching articles about other genius teens that finished school, moved out on their own, and started at university at a young age. She hoped to convince her parents that she was responsible enough to do that; but first she had to be accepted for some form of higher education that her parents would approve of.

She didn't want to work at Gringotts or some desk job at the ministry; but she was interested in magical law, specifically the rights of non-humans like house-elves, Goblins, and even centaurs.

McGonagall wrote her references, one was to a law firm that took both magical and Muggle cases and employed multiple solicitors and barristers. Hermione had an interview scheduled with one of the partners, a solicitor named Tompkins, on Monday morning at nine.

The interview lasted less than ten minutes before the solicitor said he had a case in court and had to leave. Hermione was disappointed by her quick dismissal; but thanked the man for taking time to talk with her.

She thought they were never interested in giving a girl not yet sixteen a position. Probably the only reason she even got an interview was because everyone at the firm had passed through McGonagall's classes, and some were Gryffindors; most likely, they didn't want to refuse McGonagall's request to meet Hermione.

She was very surprised that on the way out, a secretary handed her a thick manila envelope and said, "Be sure to fill out all the personal forms and bring them in with you when you start work. Solicitor Tompkins would like you to start as his personal assistant next Monday if you can, but he said if you need more time to settle into a flat, you can take another week.

It's only a technicality since Solicitor Tompkins has already secured your acceptance, but your enrollment papers for that Muggle School, The Law Department of the London School of Economics, are also in there and needs to be sent in by Friday.

I was also told to remind you to get to Diagon Alley and get the books you'll need for your Masters Degree in the Ministry's Magical Law courses. Those classes start in September, but solicitor Tompkins said Professor McGonagall assumed you would want to get a head start reading them.

Oh, and he said for that week in August when you have to leave to take your NEWTs, don't worry about work here, concentrate on the exams." Hermione was stunned that she got the job, and went home thinking her parents couldn't refuse to let her move to Potter Manor now. She couldn't think of a better way to convince them; she had a job and was going to two law schools, one magical and the other Muggle. After Ginny and Harry explained to Mr. and Mrs. Granger that they worked at Gringotts and that Hermione could commute into London with them, her parents agreed to let her move into Potter Manor with them rather than renting a flat in London and living alone. 


	14. Chapter 14 - The Hunt for Horcruxes

Chapter XIV- Hunting Horcruxes

Ron got permission to move to Potter Manor with the provision that Mr. or Mrs. Weasley could drop by at any time unannounced to check on him and the others. Harry and Ginny couldn't figure out why; they lived together all last year without Mr. and Mrs. Weasley being able to check on them. If there weren't any problems for an entire year, why worry just because Ron and Hermione would be with them this summer.

Ron moved in two hours since he had few possessions; Hermione took two days to move all her things.

Hermione had learned to Apparate from Tom's memories, but refused to do it because she didn't have a license yet; working at a law firm, she said she wouldn't break the law. Instead, on her first day of work, she flued with Harry, Ginny to the Leakey Cauldron.

Her job as Tompkins' assistant was to handle all the details that didn't need to done by Tompkins himself. The first week passed quickly as she learned what those details included, where everything, like case files, law references, and various forms, was located. She also needed to learn the legal terminology used, and how to quickly find precedents in the firm's legal library.

During her lunch and tea breaks, she started reading ahead in the course books for the classes starting in September.

In that same week as Hermione started her job, Ginny and Harry were sent out on a job for the first time. Goldenrune told them they were to assist a senior curse breaker named Ironshield at removing old wards from a home in Wales that had been sold. The new Goblin owner then wanted new wards keyed to him to be installed.

Ironshield said, "Alright you two, how do you propose to start?'

Harry answered, "First, since we don't have a list of the wards from the old owner, we do diagnostic spells to learn what the present wards are. We also check if there are any triggers tied to trap curses; if there are, we remove them first."

Ginny continued, "Then we establish the order in which the wards are tied in; the last ward established has to be the first removed."

Harry continued, "We remove that ward, check again for any tied in trigger hexes to the other wards, and disarm any triggers. Then remove the next ward, check for triggers, and continue until all wards are removed."

Ginny picked up with, "Then we create a Runestone power sources by engraving the proper runes for the new wards we want to establish into the blank stones we brought with us. Then using Arithmancy, we calculate where the Runestones need to be placed to give the greatest possible strength for the wards."

Harry finished, "Then we anchor the new Runestones, cast the first ward, do the spell to tie in the next ward, and cast it. We continue until all the wards in the contract are up. Finally do a check to be sure all the new wards are working properly."

The old Goblin said, "Correct, so why are you standing there? Get started, time is money."

Harry asked, "You want us to do it alone? We were told we were to assist you."

Ironshield said, "You never learn anything as well by watching as when you do it yourself.

Goldenrune didn't take you on as his trainees because he though you would make good grunt labor. He asked me to supervise, not to cast the wards. Now get to work and let me observe you."

Harry started the diagnostic spells on the old wards while Ginny started the Arithmancy calculations for the new ones. Harry finished first and said, "Ginny, take a look at these diagnostics."

She stopped her work and looked over his work, she said, "Confundus spell keyed to trigger at any attempt to crash a ward."

Harry said, "That's why I called you, we'll have to do simultaneous spells to do this. Do you want to hold the trigger on the Confundus while I crash the ward; or do you want me to hold the trigger?"

She said, "I'll hold the trigger; on three."

Ginny's spell froze the Confundus in place; Harry removed the first ward, then destroyed the trigger.

He said, "Hang here while I check the next ward."

He cast a diagnostic and said, "Damn, another trigger; this time for a Confrigio curse. It's meant to incinerate anyone crashing the ward before they can complete the spell.

This time I'll hold the trigger, you crash the ward."

When Ginny finished, and also destroyed the trigger, she said, "I'll bet you the last three old wards also have triggers tied to deadlier curses each time?"

Harry said, "No bet. You'll have to wait on the Arithmancy calculations; we'll have to remove all of them as a team."

It took all morning to remove the old wards. They broke for lunch, Goblin lunch of raw meat and fungi that Ironshield brought. After lunch, Harry started carving the new rune stones using a gouging curse while Ginny finished her Arithmancy calculations.

On a map of the grounds, she showed him where the stones had to be placed; they levitated each in place, then buried them so their positions would be harder to find for anyone trying to break their new wards.

It was already half three when they began casting the first new ward. Harry finished it; Ginny cast the tie in to the second ward. Harry cast the second ward, Ginny tied it in; then Harry said, "I want to add a trigger to a compulsion charm here."

Ironshield said, "Why, it's not part of the contract; it will take time and cost money?"

Harry said, "There are four wards tied into the contract; but no safety curses to prevent removal. That's a poor decision. I don't know if the owner couldn't afford to add safety curses, or just didn't think to ask for them. The Gringotts representative that worked out the contract should have explained why safety curses are needed and that they're worth the few extra Galleons.

It will only take a few minutes and we will stand for the cost, not Gringotts. If Ginny and I are to continue as curse breakers, we want to establish a good reputation; we don't want our first job to be a sloppy one."

Ironshield asked, "What compulsion charm do you intend to add?"

Harry said, "False image compulsion, it will make the person trying to break the wards think they removed the final ward and want to enter immediately. When they try to pass the wards, a blasting curse is triggered."

Ironshield smiled and said, "Proceed, your plan adds almost no cost; it will not only help your reputation in the business, but add to Gringotts prestige."

It was after five when they finished and Ironshield said, "Your work was satisfactory; I will report that to Goldenrune and have Gringotts absorb the cost of the extra trigger charm. You were right; the contract Goblin should have talked the owner into including at least one safety trigger.

You may leave for your home; it is not necessary for you to return to Gringotts."

Ron didn't have a job, he spent his time revising Tom's memories to try and catch up with Hermione so he could take his OWLs at the same time she would do her NEWTs in August. He didn't feel ready to do NEWTs, so he planned to return to Hogwarts for at least part of his fifth year until he did feel ready for them.

Their first weekend at Potter Manor, Ron and Hermione brewed the Animagus vision quest potion and took it together. Ron saw a Golden Retriever as his Animagus form and spent some of his time learning to transform.

Hermione's form was a Lynx, which everyone thought was fitting for her considering the way the animal's hair stuck out around its ears. With all the things she needed to do before starting work, she didn't have time to try transforming and she still wasn't sure she wanted to try.

Summer was busy, but the teens still found time to the twins visited in the evening or on a weekend to play Quidditch. Neville and Luna along with all the Weasleys were invited to occasional cookouts, the next one was set for Harry's birthday.

Harry and Ginny were sent out on jobs four more times with different supervising Goblin curse breakers each time. They realized, though Goldenrune never actually said it, these assignments were their exams. They had to pass before being allowed to move on to more classes with Goldenrune.

On evenings when neither they nor Hermione had a large amount of homework, they discussed the Horcrux problem. Was the snake really a Horcrux; was the cup one, and what was the final object. The big question was where were they hidden?"

The consensus was Gringotts and Hogwarts were the two most likely places because they would be the hardest places to break into and both places were so big it would be hard to search them if you did get in.

Hermione said, "Ron plans to return to school in September; he could take some time to search if we could figure out what the Horcruxes are."

Ginny said, "From what Dumbledore showed us, Hufflepuff's cup is most likely one of them; and the other something of Ravenclaws."

Hermione said, "From my research, the only thing associated with Ravenclaw was her diadem, but it hasn't been seen for almost a thousand years."

Harry said, "Then that's what Ron should look for, the cup or the diadem; at least until we get information that the Horcruxes are something else. Since the snake is always with Voldemort, we'll probably have to take it out just before we take him out.

Looking in Hogwarts will have to wait until Ron returns to school; right now,I'm thinking of Gringotts. I wonder how the Goblins would feel if they knew part of Voldemort's soul was resting in one of their vaults.

We know they'd like to remain neutral; but we also know they don't like the idea of Voldemort taking control of the Wizarding world. They know it would be bad for business; maybe they would be willing to help."

Ginny said, "I think we should ask Goldenrune, we're training as curse breakers and there are no bigger or worse curses than the Horcruxes and their protections."

The next time they were in class instead of in the field, Harry asked, "Goldenrune, have you ever heard of a cursed object that holds part of a wizard's soul?"

The Goblin looked at the two teens before asking, "What do you know of such an object? It is not discussed in any of your texts and I never mentioned such a thing."

Harry said, "You know I am Voldemort's nemesis; he has tried to kill me several times and has sworn to try again, he tried to kill Ginny to. Because of that, we have looked into his life as a way to defend ourselves and kill him instead."

Ginny picked up with, "During our research into his life, we came across three objects like Harry mentioned and destroyed two of them; we also came across information that there are several more."

Harry continued, "If you know about these objects and how they work, then you know before we can kill Voldemort, they all have to be destroyed."

Ginny said, "Master Goldenrune, if you do know about them, would you teach us what we need to know? For example, we think the snake Voldemort keeps with him could be one. Do you know if it's possible for a living thing to be one? We haven't been able to find definite proof either way, that it can or can't."

Goldenrune thought for a few minutes before saying, "Though you avoided using the name, I believe you know these objects are called Horcruxes. Goblin records of these abominations go back almost four thousand years to ancient Egypt and Assyria. Snakes were used as Horcruxes in the past at a time when clay pottery was too fragile to use and metalworking was an uncertain skill.

Another reason for making a snake a Horcrux is it gives the wizard extreme control over the snake. The wizard is mentally connected to the snake; he can see through the snake's eyes and can use the snake as an assassination weapon. It is the major reason snakes are considered dark creatures."

That made Harry think of his connection to Voldemort that allowed him to see things Voldemort was doing. The thought scared him, but he had to ask, "Master Goldenrune, what about a person? Can a person be made into a Horcrux?"

Ginny looked at Harry, she knew what he was thinking.

Goldenrune answered, "There is no record of such a thing; but I know of no reason to believe it couldn't be done. The risk is that a person has their own soul and free will; they would notice the effects of the Horcrux inside them. There would be a connection between the wizard who made the Horcrux and the person being used as one. The reaction between them would be unpredictable."

Harry and Ginny nodded, then Goldenrune went on, "If you destroyed two, you also know how well they are protected and how dangerous it is to try and destroy them."

Harry said, "We do, in fact, we have one that we can't destroy because it has an Egyptian ward on it that we haven't been able to break so far. It wasn't in any of our lessons up to now and we can't find it in our texts. We plan to ask Ginny's brother Bill now that Gringotts has transferred him back to London; but haven't had the chance yet."

Goldenrune said, "I have an idea of what it might be. It should be in next year's lessons, but if you wish, I will help you destroy it now.

Goblins do not fear death; it is simply moving on to another realm of life. We consider these Horcruxes, these attempts by wizards to hide from death, as abominations. We think nothing more evil exist."

Ginny suddenly said, "We think one of them is in a Gringotts vault."

Goldenrune made a noise somewhere between a hiss and a growl before saying, "Why is it you think one of the abominations is here?"

Ginny continued, "He had them placed where they were safe; and no place is safer than a Gringotts vault."

Goldenrune said, "He does not have a vault."

Harry said, "But many of his followers do; including high security vaults like mine. We also know he gave one of them to a follower of his; to be kept in a heavily warded secret room in a heavily warded mansion. We think one is hidden at Hogwarts protected by the castle's wards; all those we found were in other such secure places. Gringotts is a logical hiding place."

Goldenrune asked, "But you do not know which vault; you are not even sure one is here."

Ginny asked, "Do you keep an inventory of every vault? We think we know what the objects are; is there a way to check if a particular object is in a vault?"

Goldenrune said, "We do keep inventories; but we have hundreds of vaults with thousands of objects in some vaults. A search would have to be narrowed down. If we had the names of his followers and the descriptions of the objects it would be possible to search the inventories.

No Goblin would knowingly permit such an abomination to be stored here; as head curse breaker, I could order a search done."

Harry pulled out a list of eight Death Eaters they knew to be in Voldemort's inner circle. On the bottom of the paper he wrote, "Possible Horcruxes, Hufflepuff's cup, gold with her badger symbol on it, Ravenclaw's diadem, gold with incrusted diamonds."

He pushed it across the desk to Goldenrune and said, "What will be done if one of the Horcruxes is found?"

Goldenrune looked at the list of names before he answered, "That depends on the vault. If a Horcrux is found in the vault of a client, they will be notified to remove it from Gringotts within ten working days or it will be destroyed.

However, three of these people are dead or in your wizard prison. If a Horcrux is found in one of their vaults, since they would be unable to remove it, I will personally destroy it immediately."

Ginny asked, "How long will it take to check the eight vaults?"

Goldenrune pressed a button and said, "With only eight names and two items to look for; the check of the inventories will take only an hour."

The door opened and a young Goblin came in, Goldenrune said, "Sharpnose this is top priority, check the inventories of these eight vaults to see if either of these items is present. Report back to me as soon as you are finished; talk to nobody else."

The young Goblin bowed and left.

Goldenrune said, "If you bring the Horcrux you have here, I will remove the Egyptian ward on it and destroy it for you. Is that possible?"

Harry said, "I can make it to the public Apparation site, get the Horcrux and return in half an hour; if you give your permission for me to leave now."

Goldenrune said, "Destroying this abomination will not only be a good thing, it will provide you with an advanced lesson in curse breaking. You may use the secure Goblin Apparation room here in the building to go and return. Do so now and bring it here."

Using the Goblins private Apparation room, it took Harry ten minutes. While he was gone, Ginny explained about the compulsion charm and Mortification curse on the Horcrux so Goldenrune could plan his attack on it.

Harry set the box with the ring on the table. Goldenrune held his hands over the box for a few minutes; then the box popped open and the ring floated into the air. Goldenrune was chanting something in Gobbledygook, the ring began to glow red, then orange, then with a white light so bright everyone had to shield their eyes.

Harry and Ginny heard the ring scream and the light faded away. Goldenrune said, "It is done; now let me explain the nature of the curse on it so you will know how to break it if you find the same curse on another one."

Goldenrune used a black board to diagram the Egyptian runes that held the curse on the ring; then wrote out the counter curse. Harry and Ginny copied the information, then asked a few questions which the old Goblin answered; then he made each of them practice the spell aloud.

He just finished when Sharpnose returned and said, "Master Goldenrune, the cup of Hufflepuff is on the inventory list for the Lestrange vault. The Diadem of Ravenclaw does not show on the lists for any of these vaults. What are your instructions?"

Goldenrune said, "Begin a check for the diadem on the inventories of every vault. I authorize you on my responsibility to get as much help as you need to finish by tonight.

If anyone questions you about the cost or hours involved, tell them nothing; refer them to me. For the next hour, my apprentices and I will be visiting the Lestrange vault; after that we will be here in this classroom."

The young Goblin didn't question his orders, but the look on his face said he wanted to. Pulling many workers from their normal jobs to search for one item would be costly, and was unprecedented. But the responsibility was not his; Goldenrune would have to answer to the board of directors. He left, and Harry and Ginny followed Goldenrune to the carts that ran down to the vaults.

Goldenrune said, "What I am telling you is confidential and most Gringotts employees do not realize this until they are much higher in position; when I took you as my apprentices you took an oath to keep it secret. Do you both understand?"

Harry and Ginny both said they knew they were required to keep all Gringotts secrets.

Goldenrune continued, "Most wizards believe that their vaults cannot be accessed except by them personally. Though we do not advertise this, if they stopped to think, they would realize that they can order money transfers and even have art and historical items brought out and shipped somewhere by submitting a verified written notice.

To do those things, we Goblins must be able to get into the vaults. Also in case of the death of the client, each account manager is able to access their vault so the heirs can get items.

The chair goblin of the board of directors and I, as head curse breaker, can access all vaults in case situations like this arise or your ministry's Wizengmort orders a vault inspected for legitimate legal reasons."

Goldenrune placed his hand on the access patch of the Lestrange vault door, it glowed, then opened. They went inside and looked around.

Goldenrune said, "Touch nothing, first because it is against Gringotts regulations, but also there are many curses on the items in here that you have not yet learned to detect or counter."

Harry pointed to a back shelf and said, "There it is, Hufflepuff's cup."

Goldenrune said, "Levitate it over here and keep it aloft while I check it for curses."

Harry brought it over and Goldenrune took five minutes to examine it. Then he said, "It is what you though it is; another abomination. It is good we did not attempt to touch it. It has nothing like the curse on ring, but there are many other curses and wards to prevent damage and kill anyone that touches it. We will take it to the classroom and remove all the protections before destroying it.

I will levitate it up to the room."

Back in the classroom, Goldenrune said, "Show me your skills."

Harry and Ginny began to cast diagnostic spells, then discussed their findings. Three triggers attached to curses were found; together, they deactivated those triggers then took turns peeling off the wards.

Finally they said, "That's it, all the curses and wards are removed."

Goldenrune said, "I agree, good work. Now how do you intend to destroy it?"

Harry said, "We used Basilisk fangs on the first two we found; but the fangs wouldn't penetrate the ring and I doubt it would penetrate the cup."

Ginny said, "I suppose the same curse you used on the ring would work; but neither of us know more than a few words in Gobbledygook."

Goldenrune said, "You are both right in your assessments. You will learn Gobbledygook late in next year's lessons; unless you do so on your own sooner. Can either of you produce Fyiendfire?"

Both said yes, but explained the dangers of using it.

Goldenrune said, "I agree, so in this case, I will destroy it as I did the ring. I am happy that you are willing to acknowledge your limitations; many young humans, and some young Goblins, would have tried the Fiendfire, most likely killing themselves and causing severe damage to the building."

He then destroyed the cup as he did the ring.

Goldenrune said, "My assistant is searching all the vaults for the diadem, but it will be late tonight before he finishes. If you wish, you may go home; I will contact you if it is found."

Harry said, "We are reasonably sure it won't be here; we don't believe he would hide two in the same place."

Ginny said, "We thank you for your help Master Goldenrune; may you vault always overflow with treasure."

Goldenrune answered, "There is no need to thank me for destroying such an abomination; any Goblin would gladly have done so.

May your vault also overflow with treasure."

They returned to Potter Manor and told Hermione and Ron about finding the cup and destroying the two Horcruxes; also about the snake most likely being a Horcrux based on Voldemort's ability to control it. They didn't mention the possibility of Harry being a seventh Horcrux.

Hermione said, "That there was one in Gringotts shows our logic is sound. I think the odds of the last one, other than the snake, being at Hogwarts are high; now, if we just knew where in Hogwarts to look."

They also sent a short note to Dumbledore.

Headmaster

Found and destroyed another; also finally destroyed the one we found months ago. One more object and the snake to go. We think the object is at Hogwarts; can we make arrangements to search during our free time this summer?

Harry and Ginny

After Ron and Hermione went off to do their work, Ginny got out the Horcrux chart and put the new information on it.

Tom's Horcruxes - 6 ?

Object 1. Tom's diary

2\. Slytherin's locket 3. Peverell ring 's cup

5\. Nigini the snake?

6\. Ravenclaw's diadem?

7\. ? Harry ?

Location kept Lucius Malfoy - House Cave by the sea Gaunt house

Lestrange vault

With Tom

Hogwarts ?

?Harry's Scar ?

Status

Destroyed 6/19/1992 Destroyed 12/20/1994 Destroyed 7/18/1995

Destroyed 7/18/1995

Existing

Existing

?Existing ?

Harry looked at Ginny and was about to ask if she thought it was true; but Ginny said, "No Harry, don't ask; I don't want to think about the possibility."

Hedwig returned that evening with the okay from Dumbledore; but he wanted to discuss things in person first. They agreed to see him August 1st, the day after Harry's birthday party.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fred, George, Sirius, Remus, and surprisingly McGonagall came to Harry's birthday party. Mimsy prepared a cookout meal near the outdoor pool.

Everyone but McGonagall, Mr. Weasley, and Mrs. Weasley swam before the food was served and later a six on six Quidditch match was held.

The Bludgers had a cushioning charm on them to keep anyone from being seriously injured; and they played with only one Beater per side.

Fred as beater for one team, had Harry as Seeker with McGonagall, Remus, and Ginny as Chasers and Ron as Keeper. George, as beater for the other team, had Bill as Seeker, with Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Sirius playing as chasers and Mr. Weasley as Keeper.

When the match started, everyone quietly agreed to be easy on McGonagall and Mrs. Weasley; but it turned out they had both played Chaser when in school and were still agile on brooms. Hermione turned out to be the poorest flyer.

The score was close for more than an hour before Harry caught the Snitch to end the match. More food followed the match with music that got people up to dance. Even McGonagall danced, once with Mr. Weasley once with Bill, then to everyone's amazement, Fred and George each danced with her and with their mother once.

McGonagall left at nine, followed soon by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Bill stayed until eleven when Harry killed the music saying that he and Ginny had an early meeting with Dumbledore the next morning before they had to be at Gringotts to report in before going out warding a property in Kent.

Remus and Sirius said good-by next, but the twins wanted to continue the party. The threat of Ginny's fearsome Bat Boggie Hex was enough to convince them the party was over.

On the way up to bed, Ginny whispered to Harry, "Look at Ron and Hermione. He asked her to dance a number of times and they're holding hands. Do you think he's finally woke up and seriously noticed her?"

Harry said, "Maybe it's because he is going back to Hogwarts and she isn't. He could just be afraid if he doesn't act now, she might meet some other bloke at work."

They got to their bedroom and started getting ready for bed. Harry went to the loo first; he came out in just his boxers that he slept in on all these hot summer nights. Generally, they fell asleep cuddled together with only a light sheet for a cover. As the night cooled, toward morning, one of them would pull up a heavier cover.

He got in bed while Ginny went to the loo. Through the open door, they talked about the party as Ginny prepared for bed. Finally she said, "Harry, there's one more thing I want to give you for your birthday."

She came out of the loo in a see-through nightie, at least that's what Harry called it for lack of knowing the proper name for it. He could easily see that she had nothing on under it, and even though he had seen her totally naked many other times, this time something deep in his middle stirred at the thought of what she intended.

He said, "Ginny, I thought we agreed we're too young to do more than snog?"

She pulled the sheet down, and knew by the tenting of his boxers that he was reacting to seeing her in her sheer camisole. She climbed on him straddling his hips, her center resting on his manhood, with nothing but the thin material of his boxers between them.

She said, "Harry, we've been together almost two years now; sleeping together, snogging, and we are engaged. You said yourself, since we have Tom's memories and feelings, mentally and emotionally we're more like nineteen or twenty year olds.

I'm ready to take our relationship farther, and I thought your birthday would be the perfect time. But I want you to want it too; if you're not ready, I'll wait until you are."

He said, "Ginny, I love you and I want you so badly; but this is so sudden. I agree we're mentally older and ready; but physically you're still thirteen for another two weeks. Last summer when you moved in here with me, Sirius was afraid we'd go too far and he explained that though we could physically make love at our age, it could harm your twelve-year-old body.

He also said making love the first time hurts a girl, and the younger a girl is, the more likely it is that she will experience more pain her first time. I don't want you to be hurt; it's one of the reasons I wanted to wait."

She answered him by saying, "All the exercise we've been doing has caused our bodies to mature faster along with our magic. I'll be fourteen in eleven days, but my body is more developed than Hermione's, and she'll be sixteen next month. You're the same, today is your fifteenth birthday, but your body is more like an eighteen-year-old.

As far as a girl having pain the first time, my mother explained all that when she gave me 'The Talk'. But I'm not worried about it; athletic girls often break their hymen during workouts. One day six months ago, after martial arts practice, I had some bleeding and went to see Madam Pomfrey; she did an exam and explained what I just told you.

Like I said, I'm willing to wait until you're ready to make love; but you shouldn't wait because you're worried about me. If you want to wait for your own reasons, there are other things we can do beyond snogging.

Ginny leaned forward to kiss him; it brought her most sensitive place against his hardness with nothing but the thin fabric of his boxers between them. After kissing, she began to slide back and forth over his stiffness.

In the main dining room at Malfoy Manor, Voldemort was sitting at the head of the table, presiding at a meeting of his most trusted Death Eaters; they were plotting attacks to terrorize both Muggles and magical people.

Suddenly he felt a pain in his head, the pain quickly grew stronger until he grabbed his head and moaned out loud. The Death Eaters didn't know what to do, they weren't allowed to approach him, or even ask a question, without permission.

Then he stood and yelled, "Out, all of you get out of here."

Left alone, he sat in pain for minutes until the pain died away as quickly as it started. He knew it had something to do with Harry Potter, but he couldn't think of exactly how Potter was causing this pain.

Harry never felt anything like it before, a tingling began to build inside him and from Sirius' talk, he understood what would happen if Ginny continued. He wanted it, and put his hands on Ginny's face to pull her closer so he could kiss her again; but he was also embarrassed by what he knew she would see happen.

From what her mother said Ginny also knew what would happen to Harry and to her; but it didn't embarrass her. She was feeling the sensation building in her that her mother explained would lead to great pleasure, and she had no intention of stopping.

As Ginny continued, Harry began to feel something else, his scar started to ache; dully at first, but as his pleasure from Ginny's movement increased, so did the pain in his scar. Then both the pleasure and the pain peaked at the same time.

Ginny cried out, "Oh god Harry, I love you so much."

Harry felt her wetness through his boxers and it caused him to climax. As he did, the pain in his scar became tremendous and blocked out all the pleasant feelings; he took his hands off Ginny's face, grabbed his scar, and screamed in pain.

Ginny slid off him and knelt on the floor next to the bed. She put her hands over his and said, "Harry, what's wrong? It's not supposed to hurt you. Is it Voldemort?"

Seconds later Bandi appeared out of nowhere and said, "Master Harry is hurt; what can Bandi do to help?"

Before Ginny could answer, the bedroom door opened and Hermione came in. She had her normal mid-thigh summer nightie on without a dressing gown, and said, "What's wrong? Was that Harry that screamed?"

Ginny barely got out; "Yes, he's holding his scar." when Ron came in wearing only his boxers.

He asked the same question, "What's wrong? Was that Harry that screamed?"

Ginny had confided in Hermione what she was planning for Harry's birthday, and Hermione had seen the sheer camisole Ginny was wearing. Hermione noticed Harry's stained boxers and knew Ron would be upset if he found out, so she pulled the sheet back over Harry and moved next to Ginny to block Ron's view of her skimpy outfit.

To keep Ron's thoughts off what Ginny and Harry had done, she said, "Harry must have had a vision from Voldemort; Ginny, did he say anything?"

Ginny said, "No, he just suddenly grabbed his scar and screamed."

She pulled his hands from his face; the scar was red and inflamed. She asked, "Harry, can you tell us what you saw?"

Sweat covered his face and he mumbled, "Saw nothing, but he was suddenly in great pain; I felt it to, but I couldn't see why."

Hermione asked, "Are you feeling better now? Is the pain going away?"

Harry answered, "Yes, I'll be fine. Hermione, Ron, you can go back to bed; I want to grab a quick shower to rinse the sweat off.

We can talk more in the morning."

Hermione and Ginny both knew Harry wanted to clean up more than just sweat; so Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and began pulling him out of the room. After closing the door, she said, "Ron, maybe we should talk now."

He said, "Get your dressing gown and I'll get mine, we can go down to the sitting room."

She said, "Why don't you just come to my room?"

Ron looked at her and then down at his boxers and said, "Hermione, we're not properly dressed."

She said, "Ron, if we act maturely; it won't kill us to talk dressed as we are."

She took his hand and led him into her bedroom, closing the door behind them."

She sat on her bed and patted the other side to indicate that Ron should sit next to her; he hesitantly did.

She said, "We need to talk about taking our tests next week. Do you want me to help you revise for your OWLs?"

She didn't really want to talk about OWLs. She was hoping that after Ron asked her to dance earlier that night, being together in her bed, dressed as they were, would encourage Ron to snog her.

Ron said, "I thought you wanted to talk about what just happened to Harry."

She answered, "That can wait until morning; until Harry can tell us more of what he felt. Your OWLs are important Ronald, I just thought you would like to be sure you're ready for them."

He said, "I think I am. I've gone through all of Tom's memories that you passed to me; my OWLs should be easy. I just want more practice before I go for my NEWTs."

She took his hand and asked, "Ron, I know you missed having Harry and Ginny at school with us last year. Are you worried about going back to Hogwarts without me there with you?"

Ron blushed and answered, "I'm not worried about classes; but I will miss you."

She said, "I'm going to miss you to Ron. I was surprised when you asked me to dance tonight; I didn't think you liked to dance."

Ron answered, "Depends on who I'm dancing with; I wanted to dance with you since the Yule Ball."

She asked, "Then why didn't you?"

He said, "At the ball, I was angry that you went with Krum; I had no right to be, but I was. There wasn't another chance to dance until tonight."

She said, "I'm glad you asked me tonight."

She leaned toward him and closed her eyes hoping he would take the hint. He did, he leaned toward her and kissed her for the first time.

She slid against him and as they continued to snog, he put his hand behind her head to hold her close. She wrapped her arm around his bare back and moved it up and down from his neck to his waist.

When they were forced to stop and catch their breath, Ron said, "That was bloody amazing."

She answered, "Language Ronald; but yes, it was amazing. I wish we had done it long ago."

He said, "Me too; but I didn't know if you wanted to. I was afraid if I tried anything, you would be upset and it would ruin the friendship we had.

It's getting late, I better go so we'll be up early to talk with Harry about what happened."

Hermione said, "You could stay here with me. Not that we will do anything but sleep;" she added hastily; "but I feel so cozy up against you like this, I don't want to lose this feeling."

Ron asked, "Are you sure? I would love to stay and cuddle with you, but I want you to be sure."

She kissed him again and rolled on her side taking his arm and pulling it around her waist. She said, "I'm sure; just hold me at least until I fall asleep."

They woke the next morning in that same position.

When Harry came out of the shower, Ginny was under the sheet waiting. She asked, "Are you feeling alright now?"

He said, "Yes, all the pain is gone; but I still don't understand what happened."

She said, "Don't lie to me Harry; I know what you're thinking. Your connection to him allowed him to feel your pleasure as we started, er, ah, what I was doing; he doesn't understand and can't stand feelings of love. Remember, you told me all about how you stopped Quirrell your first year; because of your mother's love, he felt pain from touching you.

As the pleasure from our love grew, so did Tom's pain; and he fed it back to you through the scar."

Harry said, "Yeah, I think you're right; but what can I do about it?"

She answered, "I don't know, yet. But we're going to work on a solution; we're not going to let it prevent us from having a normal love life together because of Bloody Voldemort's reaction to it. Normally I hope that something is always causing him pain, I just wish it didn't happen when we try and make love.

Come to bed Harry, we can talk more tomorrow after our meeting with Dumbledore."

When Ron woke, he found Hermione still held by his arm and he didn't want to wake her. He stayed still just thinking of last night and what it meant for their future. Finally, he needed the loo, so he tried to slip away without waking her, but she stirred as he moved and he said, "Harry and Ginny are probably up by now, we should go down and talk."

She said, "Perhaps you should go to your room and get dressed or at least put your dressing gown on before we go to breakfast; I want to use the loo and I think I'll dress for work before going down."

When she got to the kitchen, she found Ron by himself eating. He said, "Bandi said Harry and Ginny left early for their meeting with Dumbledore. I guess we'll have to wait until tonight to talk about what happened to Harry last night."

After they finished eating, Hermione asked, "Ron, what are your plans for today?"

He answered, "I want to practice my spells for the practical part of the OWLs; then go over Tom's memories of the NEWTs level courses."

She kissed him good-by and left for work by way of the flue network.

Ron went to the dueling practice room until lunch; then out to the pool where he relaxed as he went through Tom's memories of sixth year transfiguration and charms.

Hermione got home at half five and found Ron still revising; Harry and Ginny were still not home.


	15. Chapter 15 - Return TO Hogwarts

Chapter XV – Return to Hogwarts

After an early breakfast, Harry and Ginny took their Phoenix forms and flamed to the main gate of Hogwarts; they decided the weather was so nice they wanted a little walk so they could set plans on the best way to approach Dumbledore concerning their idea to search Hogwarts for the last Horcrux.

They also needed to discuss whether they should tell Dumbledore about the possibility of Harry being a seventh Horcrux. They decided not to.

Ginny asked, "Do you think he'll give us a problem about searching the castle?"

Harry said, "He might. We gave him a lot of trouble getting out of here and away from his control; and my law suit to recover the money he gave to my uncle didn't make him any happier. Now we have to ask him to let us back in and give us free range of the building. I mean, he knows we have to find and destroy the Horcrux, and he wants it done, but he may want a pound of flesh first just to get back at us. He can be petty and vindictive at times."

Ginny went on, "Perhaps we should just go with the original plan and let Ron search after he come back next term."

Harry said, "It will take Ron years to search the entire castle, even with Neville and Luna's help; and I'm not sure if I want to tell them about Horcruxes since they can't do Occlumency. If someone leaks it to Voldemort, he'll hide Nagini somewhere safe, and we'll never be able to get to the damn snake. Then again, I don't want to let this war to drag on for years and see hundreds of innocent people killed.

We have to go in before classes resume and search as much of the castle as possible. In particular, we have to search the dorms during the summer; once the students are back, keeping what we're looking for secret will be impossible."

They arrived at the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office and gave the password that Dumbledore told them in his letter. When they reached the top of the stairs, the door opened and Dumbledore said, "Harry, Ginny, come in.

I presume you asked to meet so we could discuss how to find and destroy the last two Horcruxes."

Harry said, "You presume correctly. We've been discussing the last Horcrux, last other than the snake I mean, and we have a good feeling that it's Ravenclaw's diadem and that it's here in the castle somewhere."

They went on to give Dumbledore the line of reasoning they used and eventually, Dumbledore asked, "So what are you asking for? What do you want from me?"

Ginny said, "That should be obvious, we need to search the castle and we want your permission to come search when we have free time to do it."

Dumbledore said, "You two couldn't wait to get out of the castle; and when I offered to help you with the Horcruxes, you were hesitant to allow me to accept my help. I still feel you're not telling me everything you know. Why should I now let you have free run of the castle? Why shouldn't I just find it on my own?"

Harry said, "Because you know, despite your grudge against us, that the Horcrux must be found and destroyed. You know how long a thorough search will take, and you don't have the time to do it yourself. You also know how many more people will die if we don't finish this soon. We need your permission, but you need our help too.

Besides, we think you're not telling us everything you know either. We both know we had, and still have our own opinions of how to eliminate Voldemort; but we've been cooperating to some extent, and we want to continue to work together to end this."

Dumbledore continued, "You also talked Miss Granger into leaving, and I have a feeling your brother Ronald won't be here too much longer. I suppose you want them to help to?"

Ginny said, "The more help we have, the faster we can get done. It would be best for security reasons if we could finish before the students return."

Dumbledore said, "Very well, you two, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley may enter and search the castle until the new term starts; but I want to know when you are here. You will check in with me or Professor McGonagall when you arrive, and check out before you leave.

If the Horcrux is not found before the students return, I will then decide how to continue the search."

Harry thanked Dumbledore and they left to get to Gringotts and get their field assignment from Goldenrune.

Ginny's birthday arrived and another small party was set up with the same guests as at Harry's party. Harry had been considering what Ginny said on his birthday about taking their relationship to the next level. After all, they had been together for two years, engaged but not married, they loved each other, and would be getting married as soon as they killed Tom.

Since Ginny knew the contraceptive charm, they didn't have to worry about a baby, or even about her parents finding out what they did. He decided that if that was what Ginny wanted, he was ready too. He also wanted to see if the same thing would happen again, would his connection to Voldemort prevent them from making love.

After the party, when everyone but Hermione and Ron were gone home, he prepared to surprise her. He went to the loo and as usual came out wearing only boxers and got into bed. As Ginny went to the loo, he took off his boxers and pulled the sheets back up to wait for her. They talked about the party and her presents through the door as she got ready for bed, and final she came out dressed as usual wearing one of his long tees.

She slid under the sheet next to Harry and rolled to give him a goodnight kiss. She was surprised when he said, "Ginny, I have one more present I want to give you tonight, me. If you still feel ready for it, I want to make love with you."

She didn't answer at first, instead she pulled him into a passionate kiss first, then after breaking off the kiss she said, "There's no present I want more than making love with you Harry."

They kissed again and he pulled her tightly against him. His hand went from being intertwined in her hair and gradually slid down her back to below the hem of the tee. Then he slowly lifted it up along her back until he broke off the kiss and pulled the shirt over her head throwing it on the floor next to the bed.

As they continued kissing, their hands explored the body of their partner until Ginny said, "Please Harry, I can't wait any longer, make love to me."

Like on his birthday night, Harry's scar had been prickling more and more as they were cuddling. He tried to ignore it not wanting the same thing to happen again; but the irritation kept building into a substantial pain. He moved to get on top of Ginny and she shifted her legs apart in anticipation.

Both of them being virgins, despite what Ginny told him last time; Harry was still worried about hurting her. Because he was thinking about that, he was having trouble moving into the proper position. Ginny reached down between them and said, "Relax, let me help you adjust; everything will be fine."

As soon as she touched his manhood, the pain in his scar increased tremendously and he flinched grunting in pain. He couldn't believe the same thing was happening again and tried to ignore the pain. He started lowering himself as Ginny guided him but the pain only increased and he eventually couldn't stand it; he yelled out and rolled off her and onto his back.

Voldemort was alone when the pain in his head began this time. It was soon unbearable. He yelled out and collapsed to the floor until, like last time, the pain faded away. He was frightened, he was used to causing pain for others; but he had felt such pain only three times before.

The first time was when his killing curse reflected off of Potter as a baby and destroyed his original body. The second was when Potter touched Quirell and destroyed the body he was possessing at the time; and the third, was when it happened a few days ago. But Potter was nowhere close by now; he would have to discover how Potter was doing this.

Ginny moved onto her side and put her hand on his scar, it was inflamed deep red and she could feel how hot it was. She said, "Harry, do you feel him again; is it the same as last time?"

The pain was lessening now, but before he could answer, Ron and Hermione threw the door open and came in. Hermione asked, "What happened? Is it Harry's scar again?"

Ginny said, "Yes, it happened again, just like last time."

Hermione understood what she meant because she and Ginny had discussed the events of the night of Harry's birthday; but Ron was lost.

He said, "What does that mean? Why is Harry's scar acting up on your birthday? I can understand if 'You Know Who' knows when Harry's birthday is and wants to hurt him on his birthday; but how could he know when Ginny's birthday is?"

The pain was gone now and Harry could talk; he said, "He doesn't know Ginny's birthday; but I think when I'm particularly happy, it causes him pain and I feel his pain through whatever this connection is between us."

Ron looked confused and asked, "Why are you so happy today? It's Ginny's birthday, not yours."

Hermione took Ron's arm and pulled him toward the door. As they were leaving, Ginny heard Hermione say, "Come to bed Ron, and I'll explain why Harry is so happy."

After the door was closed, Ginny asked, "Aren't we ever going to be able to make love without Tom causing you pain?"

Harry answered, "We don't know that. What I need is to find a way to block that returning pain; I just don't know how."

Ginny said, "You're saying we'll never be able to make love because the more we try, the more pain it causes you?"

Harry answered, "Yes, sort of, but it hurts him more. And I do want to make love with you so I intend to find a way to block him out, but until I do, we'll have to be patient and wait."

Ginny said, "Go shower Harry, you're covered in sweat from the pain. We'll talk this out as soon as we can, because I intend to make love to you too, as soon as possible."

With Harry and Ginny working or in class five days this week, and Hermione taking her NEWTs, and Ron taking his OWLs this week, the next Saturday was their first opportunity to start the search at Hogwarts. The four teens arrived at the castle at seven, reported to Dumbledore, then separated. They decided to do the two least likely areas first so Harry and Ron went to Ravenclaw tower, Ginny and Hermione to Gryffindor tower.

Both groups started at the top of the towers with Harry and Ginny feeling with their magic for the presence of a Horcrux while Hermione and Ron cast spells to reveal any hidden rooms or alcoves.

Since they wanted to be sure not to miss the Horcrux because they were rushing, they agreed to go slowly and do a thorough search; as a result, at the end of the day they hadn't finished the dorms.

They reported to Dumbledore that they were leaving, but would be back tomorrow. They returned Sunday and both groups managed to finish their assigned tower. No sign of the Horcrux was found.

The next week, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione were back to their jobs; Ron was revising for his NEWTs which he was hoping to take in October. It was the following weekend before they were able to search the Slytherin and Hufflepuff dorms; still without finding anything. They had only one more weekend before the students returned to school and Dumbledore had still not told them what he would allow them to do once the students were back.

Since the attack on Hogsmeade, several more Death Eater raids had hit various towns leaving nearly a hundred dead Muggles and also a few magical families. No Death Eaters had been killed or captured by the Aurors and people were getting very nervous.

A number of Harry and Ginny's friends, those that knew that Harry and Ginny were working at Gringotts as curse breakers and ward casters, had tried unsuccessfully to reach them. Since no owls except Hedwig could get to Potter Manor, friends sent letters to the Burrow and Mrs. Weasley passed them to Harry and Ginny; some students ended up going to Professor McGonagall asking her to contact Harry and Ginny for help in protecting their families and homes.

They asked Goldenrune what Gringotts' policy was about them taking side jobs to protect their friends' homes. He said as long as they did only wizard properties and didn't take away Gringotts' Goblin clients, that they were free to take as much extra work as they could handle. But he did warn them not to exhaust themselves to the point that their performance on the jobs for Gringotts suffered, or their class work was affected.

With the summer sun not setting until late, they started doing unplotable wards or Fidelius charms on one home of a friend each night starting with Hermione's parents' house and other Muggle born friends. The Burrow was placed under a Fidelius charm and Sirius asked them to do the house of his cousin, Andromeda Tonks.

The last weekend of August found them at the castle searching the dungeon areas near the Slytherin dorms as they thought it was the most likely place for Tom to hide the Horcrux. They again had no luck, but hadn't finished all the area as of Sunday night.

When they went to Dumbledore to report they were leaving, Harry insisted he give them some schedule to continue the search now that the students would be back on Tuesday. Dumbledore finally conceded them permission to come weekends as they had been, but they still had to check in with him each time.

Hermione's NEWTs scores and Ron's OWLs scores came to McGonagall on the morning of August 29th and she flued over to Potter Manor that evening. Hermione got nine outstanding NEWTs and Ron, with Tom's memories to help, nine outstanding OWLs.

Ron, since he didn't take NEWTs yet, still had to return to school on September 1st. Worried about a possible attack on the returning students, the ministry had a dozen Aurors stationed at King's Cross who would then Apparate to Hogsmead station to meet the train when it arrived. Four more were assigned to ride on the train and patrol the train's corridors along with the prefects.

Harry and Ginny decided that, with the number of recent attacks, and the train being a soft target, four Aurors on the train weren't enough. Unable to get permission from the ministry to ride on the train since they were no longer students, they asked Goldenrune for the day off so they could fly above the train on brooms and watch for an attack.

Hermione, who wasn't much of a flyer, felt she wouldn't be of much help if she had to ride a broom for seven hours; so she formed and emergency plan. She bought Muggle cell phones for Harry and Ginny to carry with them.

Muggle electric devices wouldn't work in areas of heavy magical activity like Hogwarts, but with just Harry and Ginny flying many feet above the train, the phones would work well enough for them to call her at the law office if there was a problem; she could then reach Madam Bones quickly and send more help.

Harry and Ginny went with Ron to the station where they met Mrs. Weasley and told her their plan. They also told Kingsley Shackelbolt who was in charge of the Aurors. He agreed with them that four Aurors on the train wasn't enough. Madam Bones wanted ten, but Minister Fudge refused to approve the overtime costs claiming the train was safe once it left the station since Death Eaters couldn't Apparate or Portkey onto a moving train without serious injury from the speed differential.

As soon as the train pulled out at eleven, Harry and Ginny disillusioned themselves so they wouldn't be seen by Muggles and mounted their brooms. The first three hours on the brooms weren't too bad, but the longer they rode, the more stiff and uncomfortable they became.

The train was now out of urban areas and the countryside became more forested with cuts in the hills for the tracks to pass through and bridges crossing the many small streams. Harry and Ginny were flying about three hundred feet above the train, close together so they could talk while keeping an eye on the train's progress. They were discussing if it would be possible to stop somewhere to stretch their legs and take the pressure off their bums without losing track of the train.

Suddenly the train slowed and they ended up getting ahead of it before they could circle back. What they found was one of the small bridges had been destroyed forcing the train to stop. Fortunately, it was on a relative straight stretch of track so the engineer was able to see the gap and stop before the train reached the missing bridge and crashed into the stream.

Harry yelled, "Ginny, call Hermione and tell her to get to Madam Bones as fast as possible and send help. That bridge didn't just collapse, it was hit by a blasting curse. I'm going to see if I can help, join me as soon as you finish talking to Hermione."

Ginny pushed the button that Hermione had pointed out when she got the phones for Harry and Ginny, it would autodial her. Hermione answered within seconds and asked, "Ginny, what is it?"

Ginny quickly told her of the bridge being destroyed forcing the train to stop and that Harry said it was deliberate so he was expecting an attack. Hermione asked if Ginny knew exactly where the train was so Madam Bones could tell the Aurors where to Apparate.

Ginny said, "It's the middle of the country, the last town we passed was Harrogate about twenty minutes ago and it looks like heavily forested parkland to our west; that's the best description I can give you. It's half two, so if the Aurors know the average speed of the train, maybe they can figure out where we are.

Hermione, I see more than twenty Dearth Eaters in black robes near the train; and there may be more, there are a lot of trees for them to be hiding under. I have to go help Harry and the Aurors on the train."

Hermione told solicitor Tomkins what was happening and that she had to tell Madam Bones. Even though she still didn't have her license, she Apparated to the standard Apparition point in the ministry where she had gone when taking her OWLs and NEWTs and hurried to the check-in guard who asked her business and for her wand to be checked.

She was frantic and tried to explain that it was an emergency, that the Hogwarts Express was being attacked and she had to see Madam Bones immediately; but the guard looked at the sixteen-year-old girl and wasn't impressed.

He said, "No exceptions, every visitor must submit their wand to be checked."

Fortunately, Kingsley came out of an office door and saw Hermione arguing with the guard. He came over and said, "You're Miss Granger, Harry and Ginny's friend right; I remember you from the Battle of Hogsmeade. What's the problem?"

She said, "Ginny just called, the Hogwarts Express is being attacked by more than twenty Death Eaters."

Kingsley asked, "Where? How?"

She explained how a bridge was blown to stop the train and what Ginny had said about their location. Kingsley told the guard to let Hermione through to Madam Bones on his authority then told her, "Tell Madam Bones what you told me, I'll take as many Aurors as I can find here at the ministry, tell her to call in as many more off duty Aurors as she can reach and send them."

He hurried off and Hermione asked the guard, "How do I get to Madam Bones' office?"

He pointed to the lifts and said, "Second level, turn left off the lift and look for the sign Magical Law Enforcement Administrative Offices."

When she got to Madam Bones' office, the secretary stopped her and asked, "What is it you want?"

Hermione started to explain, but her voice was loud enough that Madam came out to see what the noise was about. Madam recognized her and took her into her office where Hermione told her what Ginny said on the phone. Then she said, "That tall black Auror I was with at Hogsmeade, I didn't get his name, he said he was taking everyone he could find and to tell you to call in everyone else and send them."

Madam went out and told her secretary to flue call every Auror not already on duty and have them report in as soon as possible.

Ginny flew down to the train still under her disillusionment spell and found the fight already underway. She felt anti-Apparation and anti-portkey spells as she neared the train; she and Harry agreed to set them up like they had in Hogsmeade to prevent the Death Eaters from escaping.

Roughly half the Death Eaters were at the rear of the train and had blasted open the door of the last car. Someone, either Aurors or students, were shooting stunners out and had so far prevented the Death Eaters from getting through the missing door into the train. She knew Harry would be using more powerful curses than just stunners, so he must be at the front end of the train.

Ginny figured whoever was defending this end of the train was okay on their own for now, so it was more important for her to check the front of the train in case Harry needed help there. She fired two of the silent Auger drilling spells as she flew past; one dropped a Death Eater, the other missed.

She flew up to the engine and saw the engineer and another man, possibly the stoker or some other helper, lying on the floor of the engine; she hoped they were just unconscious and not dead. A Death Eater was standing guard on the platform of the first passenger car behind the tender and she dropped him with another silent Auger spell before landing in the engine compartment near the engineer's body. She checked; both men were dead.

She removed the disillusionment spell since once she started walking through the train to join the fight, it would shimmer and she could be spotted anyway. She didn't want Harry or one of the Aurors to accidentally fire at her thinking she was a Death Eater trying to sneak up on them.

As Harry flew down to the train he saw a group of a dozen or so Death Eaters come out of the nearby forest near the engine. They killed the engineer and stoker before he could get there. So he set up anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey spells over the train before he landed, still disillusioned, on the platform of the first car behind the tender.

Removing the disillusionment spell, he entered the car and found the head boy and head girl looking out the window to try and see what was happening.

Harry said, "The train is being attacked by at least two dozen Death Eaters; one group at each end. Clear everyone out of this car and go back through the train and lock everyone in their compartments. Put the strongest shield you can make on every door and on every platform between cars. It won't stop them forever, but it will slow them down if they try to climb aboard between cars.

Keep an eye on the Slytherins so they don't try and help the Death Eaters. Tell anyone from the other houses that feels they can help defend the lower year students to do so only if a Death Eater tries to enter their compartment. Tell them not to come out and start a fight you're overmatched and will just be killed; let me and the Aurors do the fighting.

I've sent for help and it will be here soon; now go do what I said."

Once that first car was cleared of students, Harry took a defensive position and waited. A masked Death Eater entered and looked around; Harry stayed hidden until another Death Eater entered. When the two turned to look into the compartments for students, Harry threw two quick spells at each of them; both were hit with a cutting curse and a bludgeoning curse and both were dead before they hit the floor.

Harry moved back to the end of the car realizing the next Death Eater would see the two bodies and be ready to defend himself. Sure enough, a killing curse shot down the aisle; Harry didn't respond. In a minute, the Death Eater cautiously moved into the corridor; still Harry waited thinking if he didn't fire, the Death Eaters might think whoever killed the first two had retreated to the next car and it was safe for them to move forward.

It worked, the third Death Eater moved forward and a fourth entered the aisle. Harry fired an Auger spell at the farthest one first thinking the closer one would have a harder time retreating and could be easily hit by Harry's next curse. Unfortunately, that closer man spotted Harry; he stepped back to avoid Harry's curse that he thought was aimed at him, and accidentally stepped right into the curse aimed at the farther man.

The spell drilled a hole through his chest and the farther man was able to duck back before Harry could fire a second spell. Harry retreated again; he didn't want to get into a fight with more than twenty Death Eaters all alone. He knew his duty was to try to protect the students and buy time for help to arrive and he didn't want the Death Eaters to get behind him.

Entering the second car, Harry saw the compartments here all had students in them. He couldn't retreat any farther because it would leave these students to have to try and defend themselves. He fervently hoped killing those first three Death Eaters would make the others reluctant to move too fast so the Aurors Ginny called for could have time to arrive.

Ginny hadn't seen Harry since he flew down and left her to call Hermione. She could hear spell fire from the first car where the prefects held their meetings, so she knew either Harry or the head boy and girl must be putting up a fight. She needed to get in there and help.

From the engine, she peeked out on each side of the train; three Death Eaters were walking along the first car on each side. They seemed to be moving slowly and cautiously; that and the fact that they hadn't entered the first car indicated that someone, most likely Harry, was putting up a strong enough defense to prevent them from getting on this end the train.

In case one of the Death Eaters looked back, to avoid being seen, she crawled under the tender and checked out the platform of the first car; nobody was on it except the body of the man she had killed as she passed on her broom. She climbed aboard and looked through the window in the door. A Death Eater was standing about five feet from the door; he appeared to be looking down the aisle standing guard.

She silently opened the door just wide enough to push her wand through and fired an Auger spell; it made no sound, but the body hitting the floor did, and a curse came from farther down the car. Ginny realized Harry wouldn't fire at someone that just eliminated a Death Eater; that meant there was another Death Eater in the car.

She knelt, and from down low, took a quick peek into the aisle. There were three bodies on the floor in addition to the one she had just killed, but no sign of the person that fired at her. Whoever did it was either disillusioned or hiding in one of the compartments.

She put up her strongest shield and stepped out ready to jump aside if a killing curse came at her; nothing happened. She moved down the aisle checking each compartment until she found one with an open window; the Death eater must have jumped out since the rest of the car was empty.

To make sure he didn't go back to the engine and get behind her, Ginny went back to check. Nobody was there except the bodies of the engineer and stoker. Checking the sides of the train again, Ginny saw nobody; that meant either the Death Eaters had left, or they were aboard somewhere on the train.

She decided the best way to find out was in her Phoenix form. She transformed and flew down one side of the train looking into the windows as she flew by. All the compartments on that side had students that seemed to be okay; most of the students were in defensive postures with their wands aimed at the door waiting in case someone tried to enter.

When she reached the back of the train, she intended to do the same thing on the other side but stopped when she saw the end of the last car had been blasted away completely. The Death Eaters she saw there earlier must have decided that blasting the car open was the only way they could get on the train.

She could hear spell fire and explosions from inside the train, so she changed back to her human form and went in hoping to get the Death Eaters from behind before they knew she was there. Bodies of two of the Aurors were near the back of the car, it looked like they were killed by the explosion that blasted the car open.

There were also two Death Eaters there; they appeared to be only stunned. After their first battle in Diagon Alley, Harry and Ginny agreed not to take Death Eaters as prisoners because the ministry wouldn't execute them, and all those taken prisoner so far had, with Tom's help, escaped to go back and participate in new attacks. Some had been captured and escaped twice.

Ginny hesitated, but finally used a banishing spell on each of them sending them into oblivion. She took a deep breath and moved through what was left of the car; there were no other bodies.

Looking into the second car, Ginny saw a Death Eater with his back to her battling an Auror at the far end of the car. There was a lot of spell noise from that fight and more noise was coming from one of the compartments, Ginny couldn't tell which one. She waited until the Auror ducked into a compartment so she didn't hit him accidentally; then she silently drilled a hole in the Death Eater.

She moved through the car looking into the compartments. The first three were locked and she saw students with their wands pointed at the door; they seem to be safe. She used hand signals to tell them to stay back.

Then she heard a scream, from the fourth compartment. The door was open and Ginny saw a woman in Death Eater robes standing just inside, she was using the Cruciatus curse on Neville who was writhing in pain on the floor and Ginny realized it was Bellatrix.

Ron was on the floor, Ginny hoped only unconscious, Fred and George were in a corner; both were bleeding and looked to be in a daze. Luna was on one of the seats with what looked to Ginny like a broken left leg and left arm. It didn't seem like any of them had their wands; Bellatrix must have disarmed them when she first attacked.

As Ginny pointed her wand at Bellatrix's back, Luna spotter her and shifted her eyes from Neville to Ginny. Bellatrix must have noticed because she stopped cursing Neville, spun, and got up a strong shield just as Ginny's blasting curse hit her.

The shield absorbed most of Ginny's curse but enough got through to knock Bellatrix back. She fired a killing curse at Ginny but Ginny was expecting it and ducked sideways. As she ducked, Ginny fired an Auger spell that bounced off Bellatrix's shield.

Bellatrix said, "Well, well, if it isn't Potter's little whore. He'll be so sad when he hears I killed you."

She shot another killing curse and again Ginny dodged out of the way. Ginny knew she couldn't continue dodging killing curses in such a confined space; she also wanted to draw Bellatrix away from her brothers and Luna before Bellatrix decided to kill them.

She fired three curses at Bellatrix in rapid succession forcing her to keep a shield up; at the same time, Ginny slowly backed into the corridor. It worked, Bellatrix advanced out of the compartment as Ginny continued to fire spells and retreat.

Curses flew back and forth with neither able to hit the other. The Auror that had disappeared into the compartment earlier came out and saw Ginny fighting with Bellatrix. He joined Ginny in casting curses; but Bellatrix was too fast and had too strong a shield.

The fight had gone on for a few minutes when Bellatrix cast another killing curse that hit the Auror; it was one on one again, Ginny and Bellatrix. Suddenly Bellatrix's head exploded, blood and brains splattered Ginny's robe.

As Bellatrix's body fell, Ginny saw Neville standing there holding his wand. He was shaking, barely staying on his feet. Ginny couldn't tell if was because of the effects of the Cruciatus curses he had been under minutes ago, or from the shock of seeing what he did to Bellatrix.

Ginny went to him and supported him; she said, "Thanks for the help Neville. Don't take this wrong, but I think you better sit down before you fall down. Let me help you back to your compartment so we can see if there's anything we can do for Luna and the boys."

She sat Neville on the bench next to Luna and turned to the others. Using the healing spells she learned from Madam Pomfrey, she quickly stopped the twins bleeding, fixed Luna's arm and leg, and revived Ron. She didn't have any blood replacement potion or invigorating potion so there was no more she could do.

She said, "All of you stay here, help should be here soon with medical aide. I'm going to find Harry and stop the Death Eaters from hurting anyone else. Luna lay Neville down on the seat, put something under his legs to elevate them before he goes into shock and keep an eye on him. Ron you do the same for Fred and George, they lost a lot of blood."

Ginny went into the corridor and continued checking compartments as she moved forward toward the engine.

Harry was waiting in the ambush position he set up at the door to the second car when he heard spell fire from the first car. He knew it had to be Ginny fighting the Death Eaters because no students had been in the car when he left, and it was too soon for help to have arrived. He was debating if he should go help her or hold this position.

He decided to stay and wait. Ginny could take care of herself in any fight, and if he left his position, Death Eaters might slip in behind him and that would be exposing the students hiding in the compartments to attack. He heard talking behind him and turned to see the head boy and girl entering from the third train car.

The head girl from Ravenclaw, Ellen Smithfield said, "We went all the way to the last car and did as you said. All the students are locked in and know not to try fighting unless a Death Eater tries to enter their compartment."

The head boy from Hufflepuff, Aaron Rothschild said, "The Aurors in the last car were holding the Death Eaters out, but as we were coming back we heard an explosion. I think the Death Eaters blasted their way in. We don't know if the four Aurors are still alive and fighting."

Ellen added, "Besides shielding the platforms, we locked every door between cars on the way back; it won't stop them from blasting their way in, but it might slow them some."

Harry said, "Good job. You two watch this door and stop anyone from getting in. I know you're not trained in combat; but I have to go stop the Death Eaters from killing students and I can't do that if I have to stay here to guard the door."

Aaron said, "We can both cast good strong stunners, we'll be okay."

Harry said, "Stunners are no good in this situation. If you stun a Death Eater, another one just revives him and he's back at you again. This will be hard to hear, but you need to use blasting curses if you get a shot at their body and severing curses at their arms and legs. Either blasting or severing is okay for a head shot."

The two students looked shocked; Harry expected them to possibly kill someone.

Harry said, "Look, this isn't a practice session in DADA, they want to kill you and all the other students on the train, and if you don't take the fighting seriously, they will kill everyone. I know it's a hard thing to do, but here and now, it's you two who have to decide on who lives and who dies. I would prefer if it is the Death Eaters that die and you that lives. I have to go, make your decision."

Harry left them talking and walked away to the far end of the car. When they weren't looking, he changed into his Phoenix form so he could quickly search for the remaining Death Eaters. He went to the back of the train to check if the Aurors were alive and still able to fight.

He saw the blasted car and entered moving past the two bodies to the second car where he arrived at the compartment where he found Ron holding his wand guarding the door. The twins were on the floor barely conscious, Neville was lying on a seat awake but not too alert; Luna was hovering over him.

Ron said, "Harry, Ginny was here two minutes ago; she said she was going to help you. Wait till you hear what happened."

Harry said, "That will have to wait, there's still fighting going on and the help we sent for hasn't arrived yet; I have to go. Are the twins going to be alright?"

Ron said, "They lost a lot of blood, but Ginny stopped the bleeding. They should be fine as long medical help doesn't take too long."

Harry nodded and went back in the corridor where he had to step over Bellatrix's body then the body of another Auror. The door to the next car had been blasted open and he went through. He found the fourth Auror's body and three Death Eater bodies in the aisle.

Some of the compartment doors had also been blasted; in every compartment he saw some students on the floor, he couldn't tell if they were dead or just unconscious, and other student trying to help the injured in any way they could.

Entering the next car he found another Death Eater body near the door and down the corridor, he saw Ginny fighting two Death Eaters. He hurried to help her, but gave a quick glance into every compartment just be sure a Death Eater wasn't torturing or killing students or waiting to get behind him.

It was clear and he reached Ginny quickly. He said, "You hold the shield for both of us and I concentrate on the attack. She used both her wand and free hand for wandless magic to make a double shield.

Harry picked the Death Eater that seemed to be the most dangerous and fired curse after curse with his wand and wandlessly until he collapsed that Death Eater's shield. Then Harry's next blasting curse hit the center of the man's chest crushing his ribs and lungs. When he hit the floor his mask came off, it was Lucius Malfoy.

With only the one Death Eater left Harry quickly destroyed the man's shield and a severing curse cut his head off.

Harry asked, "Are you hurt?

Ginny answered, "Cuts and scrapes mostly from flying debris. What about you?"

Harry said, "Same; nothing serious. The twins didn't look so good and I saw a lot of other students down."

Ginny said, "I know. We better stop this before more students are killed."

Harry asked, "How many do you think are left?"

Ginny answered, "One is too many, I killed four and banished two more the Aurors must have stunned; Neville killed Bellatrix."

Harry said, "That's seven, and I killed these two and three more in the first car, that's twelve so there's around a dozen more if they haven't left."

Ginny said, "Your anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey wards are still up, so if they left they walked."

Harry nodded and said, "I left the head boy and girl guarding the front car, I better check on them and if they're okay, I'll start heading through the cars back this way. You keep moving toward the front of the train but be careful."

Harry took his Phoenix form and flamed back to where he left the head boy and girl. He found them injured but alive and asked, "What happened? How are you?"

Aaron said, "A few cuts and bruises but still able to fight. You were right about the Death Eaters; Ellen stunned the first one that came through the door and the next one fired a killing curse at us, then revived the stunned one.

That was when we realized it had to be done; as he started to get up, I hit him with a blasting curse, and Ellen got the second guy with another blasting curse. The bodies are still down there at the end of the car, we really didn't want to go and take a close look."

Ellen said, "I think the blasting curses made the others think twice about coming in because it's been quiet since then."

Harry asked, "Will you two be alright, can I count on you to still guard this end of the train."

They gave him a forced grin and Aaron said, "We'll be fine, go stop the rest of them before any students are killed."

When he saw Harry's expression change, Aaron said, "I guess it too late to save everyone."

Harry said, "But it's not too late to save the rest."

Just then there was a yell; "Ministry Aurors, come out with your hands up or we'll start firing."

Harry recognized Kingsley's slow deep voice and yelled back, "Kingsley, its Harry. This car is clear, you can come in."

Kingsley yelled back, "If you're really Harry Potter, where did you first meet me?"

Harry answered, "I first saw you in Trafalgar Square with Dumbledore; but we didn't talk until after the attack in Diagon Alley."

Kingsley came in followed by three other Aurors. He asked, "What's the situation?"

Harry said, "Your four Aurors that rode on the train are all dead, fourteen Death Eaters that I know of dead, and the engineer and stoker are dead. An unknown number of students dead and many others injured. I estimate another ten to twelve Death Eaters unaccounted for.

We cleared from the engine to this car and from the last car three cars in, but with only me and Ginny and the head boy and girl here, I can't guarantee Death Eaters haven slipped behind us. That leaves three cars we haven't been in yet."

Kingsley said, "I stationed two Aurors at the engine and two more at the back of the train. Another pair is patrolling each side of the train. Those six and these three with me were all I could bring in a hurry; Madam Bones should be sending more help soon.

You three, push into the next car from here, I'll take Potter with me to the rear car and we'll meet in the middle. Come on Harry."

Kingsley started toward the door, but Harry said, "Allow me it will be faster."

Harry took his Phoenix form, grabbed a startled Kingsley with his talons, and flamed to the last car.

When Harry was back in his human form, Kingsley said, "You're a Phoenix Animagus; unregistered I assume."

Harry said, "I intend to register once Voldemort is dead; until then I thought it would be a strategic advantage not to let too many people know.

Can we go clear the train now, Ginny is in there somewhere, maybe fighting for her life."

The last three cars were still clear of hostiles; but the number of dead and wounded students appalled Kingsley. When they reached the fourth car, they saw Ginny at the far end with Avery McNair dead in the aisle. Ginny said, "He put up a hell of a fight; he may not have been the brightest, but he was tough."

Kingsley said, "Don't be offended because I know you're both probable better fighters than me, but as the only ministry official, I have to take the lead from here on."

Harry answered, "Be my guest, we'll back you up."

Kingsley went into the fifth car and a killing curse was immediately shot at him. He backed out and said, "This is going to be tough, however many Death Eaters are in there, they have a car load of students as hostages."

Harry said, "Not really, that's the Slytherin car, most of the students in there are the sons and daughters of Death Eaters. But I doubt that will keep the Death Eaters from bluffing that they will kill the Slytherins."

Kingsley said, "Slytherins or not, as a ministry official I have rules to follow in a hostage situation. We have a trained hostage team and we'll have to wait until they arrive."

Ginny said, "Why don't you go back and check when they'll arrive; Harry and I will stay and be sure no Death Eaters escape while you're gone."

Kingsley looked at her and smiled, "Yes, that's a good idea; while I'm gone I'm sure I can count on you two to see that no Death Eaters escape."

When he was out of the car, Harry asked, "This time you want me to do the shield and you attack?"

Ginny said, "Sounds good. Get the shield up and I'll blast a hole big enough for us to go through together. Be ready to dodge killing curses."

Her blasting curse took out half the end of the car and before the dust settled, she and Harry were in the car with Ginny firing curses down the length of the car with both hands. There were three Death Eaters that they could see in the corridor, but Ginny's rapid fire forced them to keep shields up and prevented them from firing back with any regularity. It seems they never learned to team up like Harry and Ginny were doing.

In a few minutes, one by one, Ginny collapsed the three men's shields and took them out. With the firing stopped, Harry took the compartments on the left side and Ginny the right side. Each was checked and unlike the in other cars, not one student in this car was hurt. Not trusting the Slytherins, Harry and Ginny sealed each compartment with Goblin wards that they knew the Slytherins couldn't open.

By then Kingsley returned and said, "What happened?"

Harry said, "They tried to escape and we were forced to stop them. Sorry we couldn't wait for your hostage team. Shall we move on to the next car?"

Going through the door it was apparent that the Aurors Kingsley ordered to attack from the engine side had reached this car; two Aurors were fighting three Death Eaters.

With the Death Eaters busy fighting and their backs turned to Harry, Ginny, and Kingsley it was easy to take them out. Kingsley stunned his man while Harry and Ginny blasted theirs. When the last Death Eater dropped, Kingsley yelled, "Clear on this side."

An Auror on the other side answered, "Clear on this side."

Kingsley said, "There are dozens of injured students, we need to set a triage station. Who has the most experience with healing?'

Someone said, "Albertson. He attended several courses at St. Mungos three years ago."

Kingsley said, "Find him and tell him to use the first car near the engine, it's in the best shape since there was almost no fighting there. Everyone else help get the walking wounded there; the other cars are too badly damaged to use."

Ginny said, "Harry and I know basic healing spells; we can help."

Kingsley asked, "Are you sure that neither of you are hurt."

Harry answered, "Minor stuff, we'll heal ourselves then help the others."

An Auror came in and said, "Chief, twenty more Aurors just arrived with two healers."

Kingsley said, "Send the healers to the first car, three of you are to make Portkeys to St. Mungos for which ever students the healers say must go there, and Portkeys to Hogwarts for the less severely injured that can be treated there. Everyone else help with the wounded."

Harry said, "Kingsley, I have to take down my anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey wards before anyone can be sent anywhere. And none of the Slytherins seem to be hurt, someone should make Portkeys to get them to Hogwarts; they will just be a nuisance here."

Kingsley called, "Jamison, in the next car are all the Slytherin students. Make enough Portkeys to send all them to Hogwarts, then go help in the triage car."

The next day the list of casualties was released. Twenty-three students were killed, six Ravenclaw, eight Hufflepuff, and nine Gryffindor. It seems Bellatrix decided killing Gryffindors was more fun than killing students from other houses.

Twenty Death Eaters were killed, all except Bellatrix, by Harry or Ginny. Six, stunned by the Aurors, were captured and in ministry holding cells awaiting trial. They all claimed to be under the imperious curse, a solicitor had already seen them, and filed a motion to dismiss any charges on the grounds they weren't responsible for their actions because of the imperious curse.

Not one Slytherin was injured.

The Daily Prophet printed obituaries for all the students killed; but like after the attacks in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, the ministry refused to release the identities of the attackers killed. The ministry also refused to acknowledge that most of the attackers had the Dark Mark that proved they were Death Eaters.

Fudge actually issued a press release claiming the attack on the train was a kidnapping attempt on wealthy students by a gang of criminals, and denying it was done by Death Eaters or that 'You Know Who' had returned.


	16. Chapter 16 - The Search

Chapter XVI – The Search

That night, Harry scar was inflamed and extremely painful. He told Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, "Voldemort found out how many Death Eaters he lost on the train. He's particularly upset by the loss of Malfoy and Bellatrix; it seems they were his closest advisors. He ordered his followers to find out who killed them because he wants revenge; he offered ten thousand Galleons to whoever kills the person or persons that killed Malfoy and Bellatrix.

Three days after the attack on the Hogwarts Express, a memorial was held at the school for all the students that were killed. By then, Madam Pomfrey had healed and released all the injured from the hospital wing, and all those that were in St. Mungos had returned except for two students with concussions.

The first three weeks of September passed quickly with Harry, Ginny, and Hermione busy at their jobs on weekdays and busy searching the castle on weekends. In order to stay in the castle as a student, Ron had to attend classes and do homework. He had revised all of Tom's memories and was ready to take his NEWTs; but, just to be nasty, Dumbledore wouldn't allow him to leave the school in October to do them.

Instead of doing them in October as he planned, he had to make arrangements with Madam Marchbanks to take the tests over the Christmas holidays. He would have to return to school in January until his scores were sent as proof of passing at least five NEWTs; then he would be free to leave Hogwarts.

One Saturday during their lunch break from searching the castle, Harry went to the hospital wing to see Madam Pomfrey.

She asked, "What can I do for you Mr. Potter?"

Harry said, "My scar acts like a connection to Voldemort. Sometimes when he is particularly upset or in pain, I feel such bad pain through the scar that I'm unable to function. I can't even move or speak. If that were to happen during a battle, I would be defenseless.

I was wondering if you could give me a potion or potions to stop or at least greatly reduce the pain. Actually all I would need is the name of the potions that might help; I have a full potions lab at Potter Manor and I'm sure between me, Ginny, and Hermione we could make almost any potion ourselves."

Madam said, "Any potion would have to be very fast acting once you start feeling the pain and could not make you drowsy so you could continue the fight. Those two requirements eliminate almost all potions."

Harry didn't want to tell Madam he wanted the potion so he could finally make love to Ginny without the pain from Voldemort stopping him. He said, "Forget about super fast acting part. If a fight starts I'll take the potion right away just in case the pain starts; as long as it stops the pain and doesn't make me drowsy."

Madam said, "In that case I have a very strong pain potion that takes effect in about five minutes. It's normally given to women that get a severe type of headache called a migraine, though some men also take it. Your head wouldn't hurt even if a herd of Hippogriffs trampled on you."

She gave Harry four vials and said, "A dose lasts eight hours; that's longer than any battle should go, but you can take a second dose if you need to."

Harry said, "Thank you Madam Pomfrey, I'm sure I won't need it to last more than eight hours." To himself he thought, "I can't imagine I'd last through more than eight hours of making love with Ginny."

That night, after Hermione and Ron said goodnight and went to their bedroom, Harry followed his normal routine and prepared for bed first, taking a vial of potion while in the loo.

When Ginny came out and got into bed, Harry rolled on his side, put his arm over her waist and kissed her much more passionately than their usual goodnight kiss.

She asked, "Harry, what's gotten into you tonight?"

He answered, "What's gotten into me is a headache potion that Madam Pomfrey claims will prevent the worst pain from bothering me. Do you feel like testing out if she's right about that?"

Ginny kissed him and said, "I'd like nothing better than to test that. Why don't you show me how to do that?"

Ginny cast the contraceptive charm on herself and they began to snog and cuddle. Twenty minutes later, Harry was supporting himself above her and said, "So far no pain for me, though I can sense he is hurting. Ginny, are you sure you're ready for this."

She said, "I've been ready for a long time Harry, please don't make me wait any longer."

Harry slowly lowered himself until they were together totally. After starting slowly, they soon began going faster and as both approached their climax, Harry could feel that Voldemort was in agony; but though he could feel his scar was very hot, Harry felt no pain.

Suddenly, he heard Ginny call his name and felt her pull him tightly against her, it drove him to his climax, and as he did, his scar broke open. Only a trickle of blood came out, but a dark smoke also emerged from it then dissipated. There was no sound like when other Horcruxes were destroyed.

Harry felt no pain the entire time and it was only when Ginny opened her eyes, saw the blood on Harry's forehead, and told him about it that he realized what happened.

They rested in each other's arms for a few minutes before Ginny said, "That was the most wonderful thing I ever felt. I wish we could have done it a long time ago."

Harry said, "I agree, but what made it even better is I think the piece of Tom that was in my scar is gone. I felt him to be in agony like the last two times, but I never felt any pain and didn't hear the soul fragment scream like when the other Horcruxes were destroyed. Then the connection ended; I can't sense him anymore."

Ginny wiped the blood from Harry's scar and said, "That was probably because you weren't a true Horcrux. When Tom was destroyed after attacking you as a baby, he never got the chance to finish the necessary ritual on you.

She pulled him back into another kiss, minutes later they were in the midst of a repeat performance. It was after their third time, and half one, before they fell asleep, in each other's arms.

The last week of September, after checking with Harry and Ginny, Ron approached Neville and Luna about helping him search for the diadem. He didn't tell them it was a Horcrux only that it was a cursed item that Voldemort left in the school somewhere and it had to be found and destroyed.

When he described it and showed them pictures Hermione had found in reference books, he was surprised when Luna narrated the history of the diadem from when Rowena Ravenclaw made it until her daughter Helena stole it.

Luna ended her story by saying, "So, I don't understand why you're looking for Ravenclaw's diadem in Hogwarts when the Gray Lady hid it in a hollow tree in Albania."

After Hedwig arrived with a message for him, Ron owled Harry and Ginny back with Luna's story asking if he should continue to search the castle. They replied that he should, at least until Saturday when they would be there again and could talk to Luna.

That Saturday morning, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione flued to McGonagall's office and checked in with her as Dumbledore still required them to do before meeting Ron, Neville , and Luna in the room of requirement. Luna related her story and Harry considered the fact that if the diadem was in Albania, there were two alternatives. Either they would have to go to Albania and search for the diadem, a long and difficult task; or the diadem wasn't the Horcrux. If their logic was correct that the Horcrux that was hidden in the castle, perhaps some other object was the Horcrux.

Harry decided to continue their search of the rest of the castle before considering going to Albania. They had searched ¾ of the castle already; and the method they were using, Ron and Hermione, and now Luna and Neville, looking for hidden rooms and spaces while Harry and Ginny used their magical sense to feel for the dark magic of the Horcrux, would work whether the Horcrux was the diadem or some other object.

Still without using the word Horcrux in front of Luna and Neville who didn't know Occlumency and couldn't protect the secret, he said, "We'll finish the search of the castle first; if nothing is found, we'll form a strategy for going to Albania to search for the cursed object."

Ginny said, "Luna, could you arrange for us to talk to the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw? We need to be sure the diadem is still in Albania, and if it is, get a better idea of where she left it. We can't search all of Albania blindly."

Luna answered, "The Gray Lady is very shy around boys, but I think she will talk to you Ginny."

Ginny looked to Harry who said, "Ginny, you go with Luna and talk to the Gray Lady; the rest of us will pick up the search of the castle where we left off."

Luna led Ginny up to Ravenclaw tower to look for the Gray Lady; Harry took Ron, Hermione, and Neville to the fourth floor where they left off last weekend. Harry extended his magical senses to feel for the Horcrux while Ron, Hermione, and Neville cast spells on the walls, ceiling, and floor to find and expose any hidden spaces.

Luna finally found the Gray Lady hovering near a window on the ninth floor of Ravenclaw tower. She approached and said, "Lady Helena, my friend would like to ask you a question."

The ghost turned and said, "Sweet Luna, I speak with you because your innocence makes you unlike any other student; but I do not trust others. They only want me to tell them where my mother's diadem is. They are lazy and think it will allow them to pass their classes without having to study, or bring them fame among their classmates."

Luna answered, "Lady Helena, my friend Ginny is not like that; she does seek the diadem, but not to avoid work or for fame. You know what is being said by the other students of your house, about the Dark Lord returning and another war starting. Many will die unless my friend's fiancé can kill the Dark Lord as a prophecy says only he can do.

Harry and Ginny need to find and destroy several cursed objects that protect the dark Lord's life. They think your mother's diadem is one of these objects and they need to know where in Albania you hid it. If you would speak to her it could save many lives, including many of the lives of the students from your house."

The Gray Lady's spirit became very dense, apparently the way a ghost blushes. She hesitated, turned to face Ginny, then said, "Many years ago, he approached me. He was a handsome young man, and he flattered me and tricked me into telling him the same thing you ask of me, where in Albania I left the diadem. Years later, he found it and defiled it with his dark magic. How do I know you will not use this dark magic for evil?"

Ginny said, "You said you trust Luna because of her innocence. She has known me since we could first walk and talk, ask her if I am telling you the truth. My fiancé and I intend only to destroy the diadem; assuming it is indeed the cursed object we seek. If it is not, we will do whatever you want done with it."

Luna said, "Ginny is telling you the truth; I promise you on my word of honor that you can believe her."

The ghost said, "The diadem is no longer in Albania. More than twenty years ago, after he defiled it, he brought it back here to the castle and hid it with all the other lost things. It is still there where he left it."

Ginny asked, "It is here in the castle?"

The ghost said, "Yes."

Ginny continued, "We've been searching the castle for weeks; my fiancé and I can sense dark magic, but we've found nothing. Can you tell me exactly where it is?"

Helena said, "Somewhere in the room of lost things; I don't know the exact location in the room."

Ginny looked puzzled and it was Luna that spoke. "The room of lost things, is that another name for the room of requirement on the seventh floor?"

Lady Helena said, "The room has many names and many functions, I do not know the name you use."

Ginny said, "Thank you Lady Helena. If the diadem is not the object we seek, what would you have us do with it?"

She answered, "It does not matter; I am sure it is what you seek. Destroy it and him; save as many lives as you can."

Ginny turned to Luna and said, "Let's find Harry and the others so we can finish this one."

Harry had been searching for ten minutes when his wand and the wands of Ron, Neville, and Hermione suddenly flew to the end of the hall. Harry spun to see Draco Malfoy holding the wands; Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, and Jason Everry stood with him.

Harry looked behind him and realized he had been careless; he was concentrating on the search so much that he had walked into a trap. Worse than that, he led his friends into a trap. At the other end of the hall were six other Slytherins, Nott, Zabini, Boyle, Dirkson, Williamson, and Millicent Bulstrode.

Malfoy spoke, "Potter, you're such a fool. Did you think we didn't notice that you and your friends were here in the castle every weekend searching for something? That we didn't know where you left off last weekend and would begin again today?

The Dark Lord has offered ten thousand Galleons to whoever kills each of the people that killed my father and my Aunt Bella. That would be you and the Longbottom squib there. It took a while to get the students in the neighboring compartments on the train to talk; but enough saw you kill my father and saw the squib there kill my aunt to convince the Dark Lord it was you two.

I don't even want the money; my friends here will split the twenty thousand. I just want the enjoyment of killing you Potter; killing the mudblood and the weasel is a bonus."

As soon as he finished talking, Malfoy shot the killing curse at Harry and the other Slytherins shot various curses at Ron, Hermione, and Neville.

Harry dodged the pale green curse and wandlessly cast a cutting curse back at Malfoy. Not realizing Harry could do wandless magic, Malfoy was caught standing there. Because Harry was dodging Malfoy's killing curse when he fired the cutting curse, it only hit Malfoy's side, but it still made a deep slice that started gushing blood.

Ron and Hermione both moved and put up wandless shields at the same time; neither was hit by any of the Slytherin's curses. Neville, unable to do wandless magic, fell to the floor allowing the curses thrown at him to pass over his head. He was in the most trouble, without his wand, he was unable to make a shield or fire back any spells.

After firing their curses at Ron, Neville, and Hermione, the Slytherins near Malfoy hesitated; probably assuming their curses would hit the Gryffindors and disable them. Thinking there wouldn't be any return fire, they just stood there shocked at Malfoy lying on the floor bleeding. Harry, already facing that side of the hall, rapidly shot two Auger curses at the people near Malfoy; one hit Crabbe in the chest dropping him and the other drilled a hole through Parkinson's head.

Greengrass and Everry came to their sense quickly. Malfoy promised them an easy victory with three to one odds against the Gryffindors and a big reward. Now Malfoy was down and bleeding and two other Slytherins were dead; Greengrass and Everry turned and ran.

Goyle, as slow mentally as ever, bent over and said, "Draco, what should I do?"

Harry fired a Reducto at Goyle; the blast dismembered him. Harry summoned his wand and the others from where Malfoy had dropped them after being hit by the cutting curse. Then he turned to help Ron and Hermione against the Slytherins on the other side.

Ron and Hermione were facing opposite Harry. Though they were trained and knew powerful curses, they had never been in a fight for their lives and had never killed anyone. Each fired a stunner at the Slytherins on their side. The slow moving, large hulking forms of Nott and Bulstrode took the stunner hits and dropped.

Unlike on Malfoy's side, there was no blood, so Zabini, Boyle, Dirkson, and Williamson, stood their ground and fired another round of curses at the Gryffindors. These Slytherins were not a vicious as Malfoy and didn't try the killing curse; but were using a number of lethal cutting and bludgeoning curses. Ron and Hermione were forced to put up shields not just to protect themselves, but also to protect Neville who was still lying on the floor, and Harry,whose back was to the incoming curses.

Ron and Hermione couldn't attack while holding up shields wandlessly, so the four Slytherins were able to fire another round of curses. Just as they were expecting a fourth round of curses, Hermione saw Boyle fall to a stunner from behind him and Dirkson's head fell from his body, hit from behind by a cutting curse.

As Dirkson's blood splattered them, Zabini and Williamson turned to face the attack from behind and Ron and Hermione were able to drop their shields and hit the last two Slytherins with stunners.

Harry turned in time to see Ron and Hermione's stunners drop the last two Slytherins on that side; and he saw uninjured Neville getting up from the floor as Ginny and Luna came around the corner.

Ginny asked, "Is everyone okay? What happened?"

Harry walked over to where Malfoy's body lay after he bleed out and died, then he answered, "Malfoy wanted revenge for his father and Bellatrix, the other Slytherins wanted the reward Voldemort offered. They must have thought it would be easy because they had the odds on us."

Just then, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape arrived; Snape was livid at the sight of the body of his godson Malfoy along with the other dead and stunned Slytherins. He drew his wand, pointed it at Harry, and said, "Sectumsempra."

Harry held up his hand and formed a mirror shield that reflected Snape's curse back. The curse sliced Snape up like being slashed by several swords and he fell to the floor bleeding.

McGonagall gasped out, "Mr. Potter."

Dumbledore went to his knees and began moving his wand over Snape's body while chanting. Snape's bleeding stopped and Dumbledore conjured a stretcher under Snape then levitated him. Before taking Snape to the hospital wing, Dumbledore said, "Mr. Potter, I warned you about killing people during fights. I couldn't stop you out there, but now you killed students in my school.

Minerva, hold all these students here until I can bring Aurors in to arrest Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley for murder. I assume the others did not kill anyone, but they are witnesses to the murders."

After Dumbledore left, Ginny said, "Harry, the Gray Lady told us where the diadem is; it's in one of the forms of the room of requirement."

Harry said, "Let's get it and destroy it; then only the snake will be left."

They started to walk toward the stairs when McGonagall said, "Stop, the headmaster ordered me to keep you here until Aurors arrive."

Ginny answered, "Professor, you know what we're doing has to get done to kill Voldemort. You also know what happened here was self defense, the Slytherins attacked Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville."

Hermione interrupted, "Malfoy started it, he cast the killing curse at Harry, then the other Slytherins threw a variety of deadly curses at us; we had to fight back to defended ourselves."

Harry broke in, "We won't leave the school, come with us while we get the last object; then we'll wait together for the Aurors."

McGonagall nodded and followed them to the seventh floor. Harry asked, "Ginny, do you know how to summon the proper version of the room?"

Ginny said, "I'm not positive, but let me try."

She walked back and forth thinking of what the Gray Lady said, "Show me the room of lost things."

The door appeared and Harry opened it. The room was as large as the Quidditch Pitch and piles of broken items twenty feet high covered the entire room with only narrow aisles between the piles.

Ron said, "Blimey, people must have been dumping stuff here since the school first opened. It will take days to search all this."

Harry answered, "We don't have days. We need to find it before the Aurors get here; we don't know if they'll allow us to continue searching.

I'll go left, Ron and Neville, follow me and try to make some sort of map of the aisles we search so we don't end up doing the same aisles over and over. Ginny, take Hermione and Luna to the right and do the same thing. Professor McGonagall, you can stay here and guard the door so none of us escape before the Aurors arrive."

McGonagall said, "Mr. Potter, I believe you and I hope you don't blame me for following the headmaster's order to keep you here."

Harry said, "No Professor, we don't blame you. But we don't have a lot of time so we need to move now."

They had been searching for half an hour when a Phoenix Patronus arrived. It spoke with Dumbledore's voice,"Professor McGonagall, where are you? Are you still with Mr. Potter?"

McGonagall sent a return Patronus telling Dumbledore to come to the seventh floor and which door to enter. Ten minutes later, Dumbledore entered followed by Kingsley and two other Aurors.

Dumbledore asked, "Where are Mr. Potter and the others?"

McGonagall said, "Searching for the diadem of Ravenclaw somewhere in this mess."

Ginny's magnified voice sounded from somewhere among the piles of trash, "Harry, we found it, I can feel part of Tom in it. Meet us back by the door."

McGonagall said, "I take that to mean if we wait here, Mr. Potter and the others will be here in a few minutes."

Ginny, Hermione, and Luna arrived first with Ginny levitating a small box in front of her.

Kingsley asked, "What exactly is that?"

Ginny looked at the other two Aurors first, then said, "The diadem of Ravenclaw, the last of the objects we've been searching for; except for the snake of course."

Kingsley understood and nodded. They all waited.

Harry, Ron, and Neville arrived two minutes later, and before anyone else could speak, Harry said, "Bring it out onto the floor."

Ginny levitated the diadem from the box and allowed it to settle on the stone floor. Harry held out his arm and the sword of Gryffindor appeared in his hand.

From the diadem, a spirit rose that looked very much like pictures of the school founder located in various places around the castle. In seconds, it took the form of the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw in that common room.

The image spoke, "Stop him, don't allow him to destroy my diadem, it is a relic of one of the school's founders."

The two Aurors tried to step forward past Kingsley, but he held his arms out and ordered them to stop. Then Kingsley said, "Do it Harry, put an end to this."

Harry slashed the sword down slicing the diadem in two. The image of Ravenclaw changed into the deformed image of Voldemort and it screamed before turning into smoke and disappearing."

Everyone was silent for a minute before one of the Aurors asked, "What the bloody hell was that? It looked like the description we have for 'You Know Who'."

Kingsley said, "Engal, Donnley, take out your wands. Everything that happened here is above top secret; you will both take a wizard's oath upon loss of your magic to never tell anyone what you just saw and heard."

When he saw the two Aurors hesitate, he added, "That or I will obliviate you."

The two Aurors realized that Kingsley was serious and both made the oath of secrecy.

Now Kingsley turned to Harry and said, "Dumbledore claims you and Ginny murdered several students; but somehow I think there's more to it than that. What's your story?"

Harry said, "Voldemort offered a ten thousand Galleon reward for anyone that killed me and another ten thousand for killing Neville. He wants revenge for us killing Lucius and Bellatrix on the train.

Draco Malfoy and eleven other Slytherins surrounded and ambushed us in the fourth floor hall. Malfoy shot AvadaKadavra at me first and the other Slytherins used a number of severing, bludgeoning, and other lethal curses. Ginny and I responded with equal force; none of my other friends used more than stunners on the Slytherins."

All the other Gryffindors spoke up and supported Harry's story. Kingsley finally said, "All of you will have to come to the ministry to make statements.

We only saw five dead and five stunned at the site of the fight. You said there were twelve attackers, what happened to the other two, and what are their names?"

Harry said, "After I hit Malfoy with a cutting curse, I guess Daphne Greengrass and Jason Everry didn't like the sight of blood and they ran."

Kingsley said, "Dumbledore also claims you slashed and severely injured Professor Snape with some sort of cutting curse."

Ginny yelled, "That's a lie. Professor McGonagall saw it and can verify that Snape cast the cutting curse at Harry. It reflected off Harry's shield and Snape was hit by his own curse."

Kingsley looked at McGonagall and she said, "Miss Weasley is telling the truth, Severus attacked Mr. Potter after he saw the dead and injured students from his house."

Harry said, "Snape has the Dark Mark on his arm; Dumbledore knows but has been protecting Snape no matter what he's done to students. I want to file charges against Snape; I was just standing there and he attacking me with a lethal cutting curse."

Dumbledore said, "Kingsley, you can't let him do that; you know why."

Kingsley said, "Very well, I believe I can escort you six to the ministry; I hope none of you plan on bolting on me. Once we have all the details from all the witnesses, then I will decide whom, if anyone, is charged.

Engal, Donnley, you two go to the hospital wing and enervate the stunned Slytherins if Madam Pomfrey hasn't already done so. Bring them in; but be careful, if they did ambush these six, they may try to escape.

Dumbledore, can I count on you to find Greengrass and Everry and bring them to the ministry for interrogation."

Dumbledore said he would bring the two Slytherins to the ministry within an hour.

Harry handed McGonagall the diadem pieces and said, "Professor, will you take these to Potter Manor? Bandi will put them with the others.

Kingsley, will that be all right? You don't need the diadem for evidence, do you?"

Kingsley answered, "No, it has nothing to do with the fight and the death of the students."

McGonagall took the pieces from Harry and everyone left the room of and the two Aurors went to the hospital wing, Dumbledore to check on Snape, and the Aurors to pick up the stunned Slytherins.

Kingsley stopped at the site of the fight on the fourth floor to tell the team removing the bodies to bring all the evidence to his office as soon as possible. Since it was Saturday, and there were no classes, word of the fight spread quickly and dozens of students were trying to get a look at what happened.

They then went to McGonagall's office from which they flued to the ministry. Luna, and the five Gryffindors were split up, and teams of two Aurors took each of them to separate rooms to be interrogated. Because they were minors, Neville's grandmother, Luna's father were called to sit in with them during questioning.

Mr. Weasley came to be with Ron. Since Hermione passed her NEWTs, and she was no longer in school with Dumbledore as her magical guardian, and her Muggle parents had no standing in the Ministry of Magic, Mrs. Weasley offered to sit in with Hermione.

Eight hours later, during which each of them got only one Loo break, Luna and the Gryffindors were released since all their stories matched and evidence from the hall showed that a killing curse had indeed been cast from the position where Malfoy's body was laying.

The six Slytherins had also been questioned, and at Dumbledore's request, released into his custody. Because the fight had occurred at the school, the ministry decided no charges would be filed against the Slytherins and Dumbledore would handle any punishment as a school matter. The Slytherins that tried to kill the Gryffindors for the bounty on Harry and Neville's heads would be back in school before curfew with no more than a few detentions as punishment.

Harry asked everyone to come to Potter Manor feeling they all deserved an explanation of what happened. Neville's grandmother and Luna's father declined saying they heard enough to know that none of the children did anything wrong by defending themselves; but gave Neville and Luna permission to stay at Potter Manor overnight before returning to school the next morning. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley also decided not to come and also gave Ron permission to stay the night at Potter Manor.

They owled Dumbledore to let him know where Ron, Neville and Luna were and that they would return to Hogwarts in the morning. Again, without using the term Horcrux, Harry gave Luna and Neville an edited version of what he and the others had been doing for the past year to defeat Voldemort.

Before Harry finished his story, Hedwig returned with a note from Dumbledore demanding that Neville, Ron, and Luna return to the school immediately. Since they all hadparental permission to stay the night at Potter Manor, they ignored Dumbledore's demand, not even responding to him.

It was after two in the morning before they all settled into their beds, but since it was Sunday, nobody had to get up early. They had a late brunch before Ron, Neville, and Luna flued to McGonagall's office.

Dumbledore tried to give them detention and loss of twenty house points each for not returning to school when he ordered them to; but under pressure, eventually rescinded the punishments. Mr. Lovegood promised to write an article in the Quibbler every week about how for years, Dumbledore's incompetence repeatedly endangered Harry and other students. The fact that Mrs. Longbottom promised, as a member of the school's board of directors, to push for Dumbledore to be fired also might have been a factor.

That afternoon, Sirius, Remus, Kingsley, and Moody flued to Potter Manor to discuss plans on how to lure Voldemort and his snake into a trap so they could finally be killed. Nobody came up with a feasible plan but they agreed to continue meeting every Sunday until someone got a reasonable idea.

News of the fight at Hogwarts and the death of five Slytherins at the hands of Harry and his friends eventually reached the Daily Prophet. The reporters and editors tied this fight, and the presence of Harry and Ginny, into the deaths in Diagon Alley, the Hogsmeade attack, and the fight aboard the Hogwarts Express.

Fudge and the ministry, still refused to identify anyone killed in any of the battles as 'confirmed Death Eaters'. Under pressure from Fudge, the news articles grouped the dead in all the fights into three categories. They were either simply innocent people who had too much to drink, or people who just happening to get a little rowdy, or people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time; and according to the articles, all of them were needlessly and ruthlessly killed by Harry and Ginny.

Mr. Lovegood printed articles with the facts, written by Luna, rebutting each of the Prophet's articles; but the Prophet had a wider circulation and was believed by more people. Unable to get the reporters and editors of the Prophet to hear his side of the story because Fudge pressured them not to interview Harry, Harry decided to play it tough.

The Potter family had already owned ten percent of the Prophet's stock, so Harry had Griphook secretly buy up another forty-one percent to make him the majority stockholder. It took a month, but then he and Ginny showed up at the monthly board of directors meeting and had the three reporters that wrote the articles, and the two editors that approved the articles, fired.

They then hired three new reporters and two editors, people who just happened to be old school friends of either Sirius, Bill Weasley, or in the case of the senior editor, a friend of told them he wanted them to publish only the truth, thoroughly fact checked articles, whether they were good or bad news, and not to bend to ministry pressure.

Within an hour, Harry had received messages from the five that Fudge and his people approached all of the new reporters and editors to try and force them into following the ministry line. All five were not married and had no close family ties; it was one of the reasons Harry picked them. Harry and Ginny had also placed the reporters and editors' homes under Fidelius charms to protect them from ministry threats.

Two days later, using facts supplied by ministry workers that supported Harry, the front page article named the people killed in the Diagon Alley fight and confirming that all six were marked Death Eaters. Included were statements from witnesses that Harry and Ginny bravely stepped in to saved many lives.

Fudge was outraged but couldn't find who leaked the information and had no way of pressuring the new reporters and editors into stopping.

For each of the next five days, similar front page articles followed. They identifying the Death Eaters killed in Hogsmeade and on the Hogwarts Express, including naming Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange as two marked Death Eaters killed on the train. The article also had pictures of Fudge and Lucius Malfoy shaking hands at various meetings, and having dinner together.

An editorial followed the articles questioning how Fudge and the ministry, knowing all these Death Eaters were involved in the attacks, could continue denying Death Eater involvement and Voldemort's return. The editorial called it a massive cover up and demanded that Fudge resign.

Harry, Ginny, and Hermione were worried that Ron, Luna, and Neville might be attacked by the Slytherins as revenge for Malfoy and the others; but the following week, the paper named the five students killed at Hogwarts and revealed that all five had the Dark Mark on their arms. The article then challenged Dumbledore to have all students and faculty checked for the Dark Mark as a matter of student safety.

Pressure from Mrs. Longbottom and the board of directors followed by hundreds of parental letters forced Dumbledore to comply. Six more Slytherins, two Hufflepuffs, and a Ravenclaw were found to have the Dark Mark and were expelled.

Somehow, Dumbledore ignored Harry's demand for Snape to be charged, and avoided firing Snape who recovered from the reflected curse and was still teaching.

To try and turn public opinion back in his favor, Fudge tried to pressure the DMLE to charge Harry with the murder of the five Slytherins. However, the Prophet's article showing they all had the Dark Mark, Luna's article that the Slytherins had fired first including the killing curse, and the exposure of nine more students with the Dark Mark, created too much public pressure in Harry's favor for Fudge to push the matter.

Over Christmas break, Ron took his NEWTs and the second week of January received his grades; eight NEWTs with four exceeds expectations and four outstandings. He left school and moved in with Hermione at Potter Manor.

The plans to trick Voldemort into a trap had gone nowhere since the first meeting. Their best information was that Voldemort was out of the country, most likely somewhere in Eastern Europe, probably recruiting new followers to replace all those he lost in the attacks on Hogsmeade and the train.

Finally, during their meeting on the last Sunday of January, Ron spoke up. "Look, we're almost positive that all the Horcruxes except the snake have been destroyed; but he doesn't know that because we've been keeping our actions secret."

Sirius said, "Of course, we had to keep it secret, if he found out what we were doing he would have moved the Horcruxes to a safer place."

Ron said, "But now he can't move them; they're destroyed. So let's use his fear of having the Horcruxes destroyed against him. We let him find out we're hunting Horcruxes and wait at one of the sites where a Horcrux was hidden. When he shows up to check it or move it, we ambush him."

Hermione asked, "But what about the snake? If we let him know we're after Horcruxes, won't he hide the snake somewhere he thinks is safe before going to check on the other Horcruxes, somewhere we can't get to it?"

Ron said, "No, the snake isn't like the other Horcruxes it's alive; it has to eat, and whatever control he has over it, he couldn't be sure it would stay where he put it once it got hungry.

He could hide the others; they're not alive. In fact, if he was smart, he would have dropped the ring or cup into the ocean where nobody could ever find it. Or he could have put one under one of the stones at Stonehenge where nobody is allowed and it would never be found. But the snake will be with him; in fact, the more worried he gets, the closer he will keep it."

Harry said, "Ron's right. Goldenrune told us something about snake Horcruxes, but I forgot it until now. Thousands of years ago, wizards that made snake Horcruxes, used them to intimidate and assassinate enemies. If he learned about making a snake Horcrux from ancient writings, he probably learned to use the snake like the ancients did.

Actually, I've seen Voldemort do that in one of the visions I had about a year ago. He threatened to have the snake eat one of the Death Eaters if the guy failed to complete some mission. He'll want to keep it close to keep his Death Eaters scared of questioning any orders."

Ginny added, "There's another reason he'll have it with him. If he is scared about his Horcruxes being destroyed, he'll want to keep the snake safe. He thinks he's the most powerful wizard that every lived; he'll think there is no safer place than with him."

Sirius asked, "If that's true, why didn't he keep all the Horcruxes with him?"

Ron answered, "Two reasons, first, they would be a pain to haul around everywhere he went. Every time he went out on a raid to kill someone, he would have had to leave them somewhere unguarded. I'm sure he wouldn't tell his followers what the Horcruxes really were and trust them to guard them.

Second, and more importantly, he has a big ego. He probably gloated to himself that his most secret and important objects were hidden right under the noses of people he considered inferior.

The diadem was at Hogwarts with Dumbledore right there but ignorant of it. The cup was in a Gringotts vault, a place he never had access to as a poor orphan, but his rich followers did. I'll bet he enjoyed the fact he never told the Lestranges what the cup really was; he just used them to guard it.

The same was true for Lucius Malfoy, Voldemort was using him. Malfoy couldn't have known the diary was holding part of his master's soul or he never would have endangered it by letting it out of his sight it in a plot to stop my father's Muggle protection bill.

The ring was at his ancestor's house. They were impoverished, living in a shack; he made that shack one of his most important places by keeping a precious object there. To him, it proved he was greater than his ancestors.

The locket was in the place where he first proved to himself that he was greater than the Muggles he was forced to live with by torturing the children he hated. Leaving the locket there allowed him to continue to feel superior.

Only the snake is different than the other Horcruxes as we just said. He will have it with him as he checks the others."

Harry asked, "How do we know which site he'll go to first."

Ron said, "It doesn't matter where he goes first. We pick the site that is tactically best for us and wait. If he come there first or last doesn't make a difference. In fact, it might be better for us if we're at the last place he checks.

If he discovers the first few are missing, it will only make him more worried and more anxious to protect the ones that are left. He'll be more likely to be in a hurry and get careless."

Kingsley said, "That's true, people, even half human people like Voldemort, are more likely to make mistakes when their mind is worried about something and they're in a hurry. Go on Ron, which location do you think is best suited to our need?"

Ron said, "Well, we don't want a fight at Hogwarts or Gringotts where innocent people can get hurt and a lot of property destroyed. He surely knows Malfoy gave Ginny the diary and it's destroyed, so Malfoy Manor is out. So that leaves the cave where Regulus found the locket, or the Gaunt house where the ring was hidden.

I haven't seen either place so I can't say which has the best tactical advantage for us."

Remus said, "Harry and Ginny have been to the Gaunt house; but none of us have been to the cave. In fact, I'm not sure where it actually is; just somewhere along the channel coast."

Sirius said, "Regulus' notes place it somewhere between Dover and Folkestone; but that's all he wrote."

Ron said, "Then unless we can locate the exact position of the cave, we'll have to set up the ambush at the Gaunt house.

Here's my idea, once we're ready, we let it leak to the Prophet that Harry found and destroyed another cursed object belonging to Voldemort; we can either say it was found in the Lestrange vault or in a secret room at Hogwarts so he'll know we really found one.

We already agreed he know Harry destroyed the diary, so when he sees in the paper another was destroyed, he'll have to check if the others are safe and we'll be waiting."

Hermione said, "Why not say we found both? We don't want him going to Hogwarts to check on the diadem or into Diagon Alley to try and get into to Gringotts; lots of people could be killed if he shows up at either place.

If he knows we've found both of them, it will help keep him away from Hogwarts and Diagon Alley. He won't want to go to a place where the Horcrux is already destroyed, at least not until he checks the others first. And the loss of two of them will make him more upset and desperate to save the others."

Mad-eye said, "She's right. It's our responsibility to draw him away from innocent people. I say we go to this Gaunt house and scope out the terrain, check for the best defensive positions, and decide the best way to trap him when he shows."

Kingsley asked the question nobody else want to, "Do we tell Dumbledore this plan and ask him to help?"

Moody said, "He is powerful and a great dueler; handy to have on your side in a fight."

Harry said, "He's also an obstinate dictatorial old coot who thinks he knows everything better than anyone else and demands things be done his way. No matter what plans we come up with, he'll say he has a better plan and want us to do it his way."

Ginny said, "Well, if we all agree, here's what I think; we make our plans first, then ask Dumbledore if he wants in. If he says no, problem solved. If he says yes, and demands his own plan, we evaluate it to see if it is better than our plan. If it is, we accept it, or any part of it that will help. If our plan is better, we tell him he accepts our plan or he's out."

Harry said, "I'll agree to that as long as nobody folds and gives Dumbledore his way."

Kingsley said, "When can we all go together to this house and look around?"

Ron had recently started working for the twins' new business out of Potter Manor, and he could set his own schedule. Moody was retired, Sirius and Remus didn't work; but Harry, Ginny, and Hermione were working every day and so was Kingsley, the next Saturday was the first day everyone could make it at the same time.


	17. Chapter 17 - Face To Face

Chapter XVII – Face to Face

All the members of the team arrived in the woods near the Gaunt house. Located on one of the rolling foothills surrounding the Derwent River just north of where it flows into the Trent west of Nottingham, there was a view of the entire valley.

On the valley floor, hedgerows of Hawthorn sectioned off the various fields; the rows ran up from the river to where they gradually turned into stone fences as the lowland turned into the steeper rocky slopes of the hills.

Bill said, "This would be a beautiful place to build a house, if it wasn't contaminated with all this dark magic."

Harry answered, "Yes, it would, but this whole valley is full of dark magic. That's Greater Hangleton in the distance, where Death Eaters used to frequent the pubs until Ginny and I killed most of them. At the bottom of the hill, to the right of Little Hangleton, is the Riddle house where he was reborn and where he killed his own father and grandparents back in the 1940's."

Moody said, "You can get nostalgic later; let's do what we have to before he shows up unexpectedly and we're not ready for him.

Potter, you and Weasley were here before with Dumbledore; show us the lay of the land and the traps he has set up to kill trespassers."

Harry said, "This is as close as anyone can Apparate in without setting off the alarms and wards. The path to the house is off to the left; you can just see the opening from here. The woods are full of deadly Adders and he has a trigger trap that calls them in if anyone crosses the first ward line."

Bill extended his arm and closed his eyes, he said, "I don't sense any trigger."

Moody said, "Me neither; are you sure it's there Potter?"

Ginny answered, "It's in Parseltongue so neither of you can sense it, but believe me, it's there."

She hissed for a few seconds and then said, "The trigger is down now, it won't call the Adders to attack us, but they're still around so be careful."

Bill said, "When we're ready to face him, we can't go in with the trigger active, but if you deactivate it, he'll notice. What do you intend to do about it?"

Harry said, "I'll leave his Parseltongue ward but reverse the Adder call into an Adder repulsion charm. He shouldn't notice the difference unless he examines it closely. He has no reason to do that, especially if he's in a hurry to check the Horcrux.

We can leave the Muggle repelling charm in place since it doesn't affect us."

Ginny said, "The same for the rest of the wards; they're all inside the house and we don't have to enter it. We figure to hide under disillusionment, silencing, and notice-me-not charms in the woods near the house, and when he's occupied disassembling his own wards to go in, we hit him hard and fast."

By then, they had reached the overgrown yard in front of the house. Moody looked around and said, "The house is built on this little flat area; but twenty feet away in any direction and you'll be standing on a fairly steep wooded slope.

Footing will be iffy, and if he starts firing at us, it will make it hard to move to avoid his curses. And we won't be able to Apparate to safety, if we take his anti-Apparation wards down, he'll be sure to notice that."

Harry said, "The prophecy says I have to be the one to kill him, so only Ginny and I will face him directly. Hopefully, everyone else will be to the rear and sides of the house and will never be involved. All of you are here for two reasons, to kill the snake if Ginny or I can't do it, and in case he tries to escape, to slow him down until Ginny and I can get there."

Fred said, "Wait a minute, we didn't sign up just too stand around; we're not cowards. We want a crack at fighting Moldyshorts."

George said, "Yeah, we're pretty good at dueling; why can't we help?"

Harry answered, "Several reasons; first, because of what I said, the prophecy says I have to be the one to kill him.

Second, because of what Moody said, the terrain around here stinks; it will be hard to move around and the only defense against the killing curse is to move, and move fast to get out of the way. You won't be able to do that.

Third, the more people around, the more likely someone is to be hit by a stray curse, his or ours. I don't want any of you killed by accident.

Finally, the more people around, the more likely he is to use one of you as a shield. He's done that before in other battles and I don't want one of you being held in front of him blocking my curses.

So, all of you will stay hidden unless you have a clear shot at the snake, or unless you have to stop him from escaping."

Ginny said, "You'll have to use powerful cutting spells or blasting curses on the snake. Be sure you have a clean shot at it, because if you miss, he'll be sure to fire back at you. If he does fire a killing curse at you, you'll just have to move as best you can to shelter behind some hard object like a boulder or tree.

Use only the thickest trees for cover, or if necessary fall down and slide down the steep slope. Better you break an arm or leg by sliding into a tree or rock than get hit by a killing curse."

Bill asked, "What about you and Harry? You'll both have to come out into the open to get a clear shot at him."

Harry answered, "We have a plan we've been practicing. Harry backed fifteen feet away from Bill and said, "Hit me with a stunner."

Bill hesitated, but Moody, using his staff, quickly fired at Harry. Before the spell reached him, Harry took his Phoenix Animagus form, flame behind Moody, and hit him with a stinging hex."

Harry said, "Ginny and I can transform in less than a second; and if he does manage to hit us in our Phoenix form, we will be reborn from the ashes."

Remus asked, "Are you sure of that, remember you're not real Phoenixes."

Ginny answered, "We're not positive, I mean we never actually died as Phoenix and was reborn; but we do have all the other Phoenix powers when we're transformed. Still, we don't plan on letting him hit either of us."

Bill looked skeptical and said, "Let's walk around the house and everyone try to observe as many details of the layout as you can so we can go home and use the Pensive to plan the best positions for the ambush. The longer we stay near here the greater the chance we're taking of him catching us."

Ron asked, "Why did we come here at all? If we can plan the ambush from memories in the Pensive, why didn't we just use Harry and Ginny's memories from the time they were here to get the ring?"

Harry said, "We were concentrating on the wards and traps so our memories of the surrounding woods are not detailed enough. Besides, we never went behind the house so we have no memories at all of the layout back there."

They took ten minutes looking about, then went back to the road where Harry reactivated Voldemort's Parseltongue Adder attracting charm, the reversed it into a repelling charm. He said, "Now we don't have to worry about the snakes. When we return, we'll be able to move quickly to the house and our ambush positions."

Back at home, they emptied their memories of the land around the Gaunt house into the Pensive and began to plan out the best positions to prevent Voldemort from getting away without endangering their own lives.

That night, after everyone else left and Ron and Hermione went to their own bedroom, Ginny and Harry prepared for bed. Harry was already in the bed and Ginny in the loo washing up when she said, "Harry, I've been thinking about something for a while now, something important."

Harry asked, "What is it? Does it have to do with the plans to kill Tom?"

As she came into the bedroom, Ginny said, "No, it's more about plans for us, for our future."

He said, "Go on, what about our future?"

She hesitated before saying, "Well, we've been engaged for some time and I was thinking about when we should get married."

Harry said, "I thought we agreed to wait until Tom is dead; it shouldn't be that much longer, maybe only a few months. But if you don't want to wait, I'm ready to hold the wedding sooner."

Ginny climbed into the bed next to him and said, "Harry, I want to get married now, as soon as we can make arrangements."

He said, "Why? Not that I object, I've been ready to marry you since I gave you the engagement ring, even before then; I just wonder what made you decide you don't want to wait like we planned to, until we kill Tom."

Ginny hesitated again, then said, "I want to have your baby, but I want us to be married first."

Harry's mouth fell open and he finally said, "You want to have a baby now? Didn't we talk about it being dangerous for you to have a baby at your age?"

Ginny said, "Yes we did; but we also talked about our workouts making our physical bodies and magical strength more like twenty-year-olds than mid-teens. I went to see Madam Pomfrey about this last week when I first got the idea. I told her what Remus and Sirius said about the danger of me getting pregnant because of my age, but that I wanted to have your baby if it was reasonably safe.

I asked her to examine me and see if she thought I was physically ready and could safely carry a baby. She did and she said physically there should be no problem; she just asked if you and I were mentally prepared to care for a baby."

Harry said nothing as he took in and his brain processed all she had said. Finally he asked, "And you think you, I mean we, are mentally ready?"

She said, "I am, and I think you are too. But, there's another good reason to have a baby now; you're the last Potter left alive. If the unthinkable happens, if you should be killed fighting Tom, the Potter family titles would go to who knows who; perhaps some third or fourth cousin, possibly one with dark ties.

The titles possibly going to someone dark is bad enough, but what if all your money ended up with someone that might use it to do the wrong thing. Back when you made me your heir, Griphook said your extended family members could still challenge your will and possibly win. The only way to make sure was for you to marry and have a proven heir.

With the confrontation with Tom looming, it made me think about all this. We planned to marry after Tom is gone; that should be within a year if things go right. But it might be better to marry now, conceive an heir, and make sure the Potter family legacy continues the way you want it to if things go badly."

Harry said, "You shouldn't have to do this; the future of Potter family isn't your responsibility. It makes me feel like I'm forcing you into something just to solve my family problem."

Ginny answered, "It is my responsibility Harry. It has been since we overheard the conversation between Dumbledore and Snape and agreed to work together as partners. Then you asked me to marry you and I said yes; you asked me to become part of the Potter family and I agreed to it. That makes the wellbeing of the Potter family as much my responsibility as it is yours.

And Harry, you're not forcing me to do it. For thousands of years girls younger than me were forced into arranged marriages and basically raped by old men so they would produce an heir to some noble family. We're together because of love, not force. Since we agreed to work together to kill Tom, I've wanted to marry you, live together happily for years, and give you children; the only difference now is, I don't want to wait any longer.

Harry smiled and asked, "What about your parents and brothers? How do you think they'll feel about us marrying and you getting pregnant at our age?"

Ginny said, "Mom will go spare, dad will understand if we explain the reason first. As to the boys, Bill and the twins will be okay with it, Charlie will accept it if I tell him it's what I wanted, Percy will be unhappy about it but I'm not worried about him, its Ron I'm worried about.

He had a hard time accepting us being together at first, then he was upset again when I moved in with you and left Hogwarts. Hermione said after your birthday, when they came in here when you screamed because of your mental attack from Tom, it took him a while to figure out we were having sex at the time, but she had to stop him from coming back to fight with you. I just don't know how he'll take us getting married and me getting pregnant."

Harry said, "I think if we tell him and Hermione together, and explain our reasons for not waiting, maybe she can help keep him calm. After all, they've been sleeping together since my birthday; maybe he's matured and won't be too upset."

Ginny said, "I think that would be the best way; but you should be ready in case he takes the news badly."

Harry nodded and said, "So tomorrow, we tell everyone our plans and make arrangement to be married as soon as possible."

Ginny said, "British law requires that we have to wait 28 days after filing the paperwork before we can marry. We should go to the ministry tomorrow and file; but we don't have to wait that long to try and conceive. I mixed a fertility potion yesterday, it will give us a ninety percent chance of conceiving tonight, if you're ready to I mean."

Harry looked at her and she added, "I considered taking it and not telling you; but that would have been like lying to you and I couldn't do that."

Harry said, "I know, I couldn't lie to you either. So where is this fertility potion?"

Ginny got up and went to her dresser, took out a vial filled with pink liquid, drank it, then took off her winter pajamas and knickers before crawling back in bed.

The next morning at the breakfast table, Harry said, "Ron, Hermione, last night Ginny and I talked it over and decided we don't want to wait any longer to get married. We're going to the ministry today to file the notice of marriage."

Ron frowned but before he could say anything Ginny said, "Ron, I know this is a shock to you, but there are several reasons we decided not to wait until we're older."

Harry broke in with, "We would like to talk to you and Hermione about it tonight, but we wanted to tell you now so I could ask if you'll be my best man."

Ginny added, "And Hermione, if you'll be my maid of honor."

Hermione answered immediately, "Yes, of course I will; and congratulations."

Ron said nothing so Harry said, "Ron, you knew this was coming; Ginny and I have been engaged for almost two years. We want you to be happy for us; but we're getting married as soon as the waiting period is over. I want you to stand up with me, but if you refuse, the wedding will go on without you."

Ron said, "Why now? You two always said you wanted to wait until 'You Know Who' was dead. Ginny, are you pregnant?"

Ginny said, "Not yet, but we're going to try as soon as possible. That something else we need to discuss tonight; why we want to have a baby as soon as possible."

Harry asked, "Ron, just try not to be upset until we can explain why we decided to not wait. We have good reasons that we hope you will agree with."

Ron said, "What about mum and dad? Have you told them or the other boys?"

Ginny said, "No, you're the first; we just decided on this last night. We plan to stop at the Burrow on the way to work and tell mum; we'll see dad at the ministry when we file the notice of marriage. We'll tell the others as soon as we can."

Ron said, "I can't wait to hear your reasons; but Harry, whatever they are, I don't want anyone else to stand up with you, I'll be happy to be your best man."

At the Burrow, they found Molly finishing the breakfast dishes. When she saw Ginny and Harry, she said, "Good morning, I'm surprised to see you this early; is something wrong?"

Ginny said, "Nothing's wrong mum, we just have some news and wanted to let you know first; Harry and I decided to get married. We're going to file the paperwork at the ministry today and get married four weeks from now."

Molly sat down and said, "I knew this would happen when you moved in with Harry. You have to get married because you're pregnant; aren't you?"

Ginny yelled, "Why is it that the first thing everyone in my family thinks is that I'm pregnant?

No, I'm not pregnant yet mum, but we are trying. And don't even try and give me a lecture that I'm too young; Harry and I are emancipated adults and we have reasons to want to get married and have a baby. We came here to be polite and let my parents know our intentions; we're not here to get your opinion on whether we should do it or not.

Now we have to get to the ministry to file the Marriage Banns. We'll stop and tell dad while we're there. If you calm down, we're going to talk with Ron and Hermione about our reasons tonight around eight; you and dad can come over if you want, but to talk, not to lecture."

At the ministry, they went to the Department of Magical Licenses and asked for the forms to apply for a marriage license; they filled it out, handed it back with the required fee. The clerk looked at the form, saw the names, and looked back up at them.

Harry said, "I know the names have to appear on public notice for 28 days in case anyone has a challenge to the marriage like one of us was already married to someone else. But if we see an article in the paper or a magazine with a statement from you about how we looked or acted while filing the paperwork, we'll see to it that you're fired, and sue you for every knute you have. So file the paperwork and just say 'no comment' if any reporter come asking about us."

The woman said, "Yes Sir Mr. Potter; I won't say anything to anyone."

They went to Mr. Weasley's office and told him the same thing they told Mrs. Weasley. His only comment was, "Congratulations, I hope we're invited to the ceremony."

Ginny answered, "Certainly your invited; we just hope mum won't try and interrupt the ceremony or say anything to cause problems."

Mr. Weasley said, "I'll try and reason with her. Where will the ceremony take place?"

Ginny said, "At Potter Manor. Only our family, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Luna, and Neville, will be invited."

Mr. Weasley asked, "What about Hermione, Fleur, Kingsley, and Alastor; they've been working with you, haven't they?"

Ginny said, "Hermione lives with us and will be my maid of honor. The invitations to the boys say, 'and date'; so we figured Bill would bring Fleur, Fred would bring Alicia, and George would bring Angelina.

Do you really think Kingsley and Mad-eye would want to come?"

Mr. Weasley said, "I'm sure they will be disappointed if you don't ask. They're both too proper to show their disappointment, but they will be disappointed."

Harry said, "You're right, we'll send them an invitation."

Mr. Weasley asked, "And Professor McGonagall, and Madam Bones; they did a lot to help you in the beginning of your quest for independence."

Ginny said, "How could we have forgotten? Yes, we'll invite them. Can you think of anyone else?"

Harry said, "I can, Goldenrune and Griphook; they've helped us as much as any of the others."

Ginny said, "We're not having a formal dinner, but we'll have to tell Minkie to be sure to have some raw meat and fungus selections with the finger food."

Mr. Weasley made a face at the mention of raw meat and fungus, but said nothing.

That night, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley flued over along with Bill. Harry and Ginny presented their logic about the Potter titles and estate needing a certified heir in case something happened to Harry during his confrontation with Voldemort.

Bill and Mr. Weasley saw the problem and reluctantly agreed that marriage, and Ginny having a baby, was the only reasonable solution to the Potter estate problems. Mrs. Weasley continued to insist that they look for another solution and that Ginny was too young to have a baby.

Ron went aside with Hermione to talk about what Harry and Ginny had told them. Through Hermione's influence, Ron finally agreed that since Harry and Ginny were going to marry and have children anyway in the next year or two, he could accept and be happy with their decision.

That night, Ginny took another dose of fertility potion and they made another try at conceiving. Harry asked, "Why take another dose? You said it gave a ninety percent chance of conception; won't another dose make you conceive again making twins?"

Ginny said, "No, if I did conceive last night, it prevents another dose from working. It will take two weeks before a test can show I'm pregnant, if I'm not, we wasted two weeks. If I take a dose every night until I test positive, it will save time."

The next day they sent invitations to everyone on their list. When Harry asked what minister the Weasley family used for marriage ceremonies, Ginny was puzzled.

"Do you want a minister?" she asked.

He said, "Don't we need a minister or some civil authority to perform the ceremony?"

Ginny said, "At most wizard weddings the bride and groom touch wands as they say their vows and their magic bonds them; there's no need for a third person to be involved. Some families do use a minister as a sort of master-of-ceremonies to keep big posh weddings organized; but since our wedding is small and intimate, I didn't think a minister was necessary.

Do you still want to have a minister?"

Harry answered, "No. I've never been to a wizard wedding; I thought it would be just like a Muggle wedding."

For the next two weeks, things settled into a routine. Harry, Ginny, and Hermione went to their jobs on weekdays, and Kingsley, Sirius, and Lupin came over on weekends to plan for the ambush on Voldemort.

Weeks ago, after Ron got his NEWTs scores and left Hogwarts, he realized that, though he was living free at Potter Manor, he needed a job to make at least some money. He would have to buy Christmas and birthday presents for his family and friends, and take Hermione out on an occasional date.

He took a job working for the twins. They had evolved many of their pranks into saleable items and started selling them to students. Their problem was lack of space at the school to store the raw materials, make the trick items, and store the finished products until they could be sold.

They hired Ron who shopped for the materials, and brought everything to an out-building that Harry gave him permission to use in an effort to prevent any accidental explosions from damaging the main house. Then, following the twins plans, he built devices, mixed potions, and cast the necessary spells to build the items.

The twins daily sent Ron a list of orders and names of the customers. Ron then packaged and labeled the orders, took them to the Hogsmeade post office since Dumbledore refused to allow him back into the castle. Using the fewest number or owls necessary, Ron sent the orders to the twins, making sure the deliveries didn't arrive during normal mail delivery times so the faculty wouldn't notice the twins getting so many deliveries, investigate, and confiscate the orders.

The twins then delivered the orders to the customers, collected payment, and sent the money to Ron. He banked it at Gringotts under an account for 'Weasley Wizard Wheezes'; and paid the bills for materials and postal costs.

Two weeks after the twins' first sale, two owls landed at breakfast with orders from students at Beauxbatons. It seemed one of their customers at Hogwarts wrote to their cousin at Beauxbatons about how great the Weasley products were and included a sample.

Payment was enclosed with the Beauxbatons orders and directions to owl mail the order directly to the student names listed. Word apparently spread through students relatives quickly. The next day, three orders came in from the Salem Witches Institute in Massachusetts U.S.A.; and on the third day five more orders, two from Beauxbatons, two from Salem, and one from the Sydney School of Magic.

The twins, never thinking of losing business, came up with a plan to keep the Hogwarts' faculty, and the faculties of the other schools from learning about and confiscating orders or deliveries.

They made a catalog listing all their products with prices and sent it to Ron. They told him to get a postal box on Diagon Alley under the name, 'Charming Muggle Clothes' and to ship the orders to foreign schools packaged with that label. In each order, a catalog would be included with instructions to place future orders through the clothing company name and postal box address of the clothing store.

At Hermione's suggestion, to make the phony labels seem more realistic and less likely to be checked by teachers, Ron had a large label with a picture of a nicely dressed handsome teen boy and beautiful teen girl that read.

Charming Muggle Clothes

for 25 years providing young

witches and wizards vacationing

in Muggle areas fashionable

Muggle clothes to help avoid

embarrassing questions

A week after Ron mailed out the orders to Beauxbatons, Salem, and Sydney using the new labels, dozens of orders arrived at the Diagon Alley postal box. Ron's problem was several of the orders asked not just for Weasley products; they wanted the catalog from Charming Muggle Clothes. Apparently, some students thought the clothing store was a real part of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Ron asked the twins what to do with the clothing catalog orders and they told him, "Never turn away an opportunity to make money. Get two or three catalogs from Muggle clothing businesses, change the front page and any ordering information to the Charming Muggle Clothes label and address, then fill any orders that come in."

What Ron didn't know about Muggle fashion would fill several books, so he went to Muggle born Hermione for advice. For once, Hermione was a dead end; she was into books, and had never thought much of fashion. All she could suggest was for the twins to check with Lavender or the Patil twins who were into that sort of thing.

The twins decided they needed someone older, someone already out of school who could work full time. The offered a job to a Muggle born girl they knew named Varity Templeton who finished Hogwarts last year, and put her in charge of the Muggle clothing catalogs and orders. In her spare time, she would help Ron.

That required a place for her to work other than Potter Manor with all its security wards. The twins needed money to get started so they approached Harry and Ginny who agreed to give them the money to get the business up and running. The twins refused a gift and instead, made Harry and Ginny silent partners with a share of the profits.

Varity worked out of the Diagon Alley store they leased. She picked up the mail, sorted it into Weasley product orders, which she sent to Ron, and clothing orders, which she bought from the Muggle companies, repackaged under the Charming Clothes label, and shipped. Every order was shipped with both a Weasley catalog and a clothing catalog that Varity had put together by combining the four Muggle catalogs she thought contained the most fashionable Muggle clothing.

Without owl-mail competition from any other magical business, both sides of the Weasley's business grew quickly. Verity had to hire two other girls to help her keep up with orders.

Ron by himself couldn't keep up with the Weasley product orders and soon had the Potter elves helping him. Harry and Ginny didn't mind, because when they first learned of it, they asked the elves if they felt overworked, and to an elf, they all answered no. They said there wasn't enough housework to keep them busy and in the winter, there was little work to be done on the grounds. They enjoyed helping Ron.

That went on for six weeks before Ron realized he was doing most of the work and the twins got most of the money. He demanded they make him an equal partner and split the profits three ways.

When he told Hermione what he was demanding, she yelled, "How do you consider yourself overworked and underpaid when you have Harry's elves doing most of the work? How much are they being paid?"

Ron answered, "Hermione, they're happy, they don't want to be paid."

Harry and Ginny walked into the middle of the row that ensued and both Ron and Hermione appealed to them for support. Eventually Harry said, "Stop it! This can't be settled without the twins being here anyway, so this is the end of the discussion until we can all get everyone together.

Harry arranged a meeting with the twins on a Hogsmeade weekend. It took several hours of negotiations, but an arrangement was finally worked out. The twins each kept thirty-five percent of the company profits and control of the company. Harry and Ginny got ten percent of the profits for providing the startup money and they agreed to be silent partners. Ron got the remaining twenty percent of the profits.

Everyone else was considered employees and paid a salary at reasonable hourly rate. At Hermione's insistence, any elves that worked would get paid. Because the elves didn't want to get paid, Harry worked out an arrangement with them.

The Potter elves were well treated and were happy; but they knew of other elves that were still being mistreated by their families like Dobby had been. The Potter elves agreed, instead of them getting paid, the hourly wage for their work would go into a fund to buy badly treated elves from their families.

These elves could then stay with the Potter family helping around the manor, join the twins' family and work for Weasley Enterprises, or find some other new family that would treat them kindly. If they worked for Weasley Enterprises, their wages would go to help other oppressed elves.

This satisfied Hermione, the elves, and the twins.

Two weeks after their first try at conception, the earliest possible time a pregnancy spell could test positive, Ginny did the test on herself. It was positive, she was pregnant and could stop taking the fertility potion; but that didn't stop her and Harry from being amorous.

Two weeks after that, the wedding was held in the formal parlor of Potter Manor. Harry and Ginny touched wands and Harry said, "Ginny, I think I fell in love with you the first time I saw you on platform 9¾. My love has grown through the years. You are the kindest, most loving, most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I now pledge to love you forever as my wife; and will give all I have, including my life, to protect you."

Ginny responded, "Harry, I fell in love with 'the boy who lived' when I was five, the first time my father read the story to me and I dreamed of marrying you for years. Then when I was eleven, you saved my life, and I discovered the boy from the story wasn't real. You, the real Harry Potter are so much more than that storybook boy.

You are the kindest, most loving, most selfless boy I have ever known and I pledge to love forever as my husband. I will try to be worthy to stand by your side in your fight for freedom from tyranny in the magical world."

When Ginny finished talking, a bright golden light formed from where their wands were touching and spread to envelope their entire bodies. They kissed, and the light seemed to enter into their bodies until it disappeared.

As soon as the ceremony ended, Minkie had finger food ready in the dining room, and everyone moved in there to eat as Harry and Ginny opened wedding presents. Since Harry and Ginny were the richest young couple in Great Britain, the presents were small articles that served as mementos of the wedding rather than useful household items.

The exceptions were from the two Goblins. Goldenrune said, "Goblins do not have a wedding ceremony like humans do; the male and the female's family simply make a contract of bonding with the price and terms specified. No Goblin I know of has previously been invited to attend a human wedding, so I did not know the human custom of giving a gift. However, when my former student William Weasley learned Griphook and I were invited, he informed us of this human peculiarity.

As my gift, I wish to announce that I am awarding Harry and Ginny their master curse breaker certification which is a year sooner than my previously best human student, and six months sooner than my best Goblin student."

Bill asked, "Master Goldenrune, who held the previous record for human students?"

The Goblin showed a mouth full of teeth then said, "William, you know very well that you are that human; and that you were now beaten by your younger sister and her mate.

This is unprecedented in Goblin history; but I have never had a human or Goblin apprentice finish my lessons not only so quickly but also with such great skills."

Harry said, "Goldenrune, krag vret mish naq judbak." (My Mate and I are honored)

Griphook then said, "The Potter family has always treated individual Goblins and the Goblin Nation with respect. As my gift, I present this golden plaque officially naming the Potter family as 'Honored Friend of the Goblin Nation'.

Harry said, "Griphook, krag vret mish naq judbak a gepran taj Ndain ir Gobbelack." (My Mate and I are honored and we thank the Goblin Nation)

Even though there was human drinks, Griphook pulled out a flask full of 'Quadank', fermented fungus whiskey, and poured a toast for the males. Female Goblin drank more mild liquors, but Griphook offered a drink to Ginny.

He said, "It would be an insult to offer 'Quadank to a Goblin female; however I know human females often drink the same liquor as human males. You have shown that you are as formidable a curse breaker and fighter as your mate, so I offer a toast to both of you.

Harry and Ginny Potter, Ig tash ud gucash rekal wan ud barkad, Ig ud pendar sustan e klank w gucashi wagisn, a ig u langie magnak berang qendo fromsen. (May all your enemies die under your blades, may your vaults overflow with spoils of your enemies' treasures, and may you breed a dozen strong healthy young.)"

Ginny replied, "I am honored by your including me with the traditional male toast; and I wish no offense; but I am carrying our first fromsen, and human females do not drink liquor while pregnant. We thank you for your good wishes for our future."

Griphook said, "We understand, Goblin females also do not drink when with young."

The men drank the Quadank, the women, other than Ginny, drank whatever they had been drinking previously, Ginny had pumpkin juice. Soon, everyone but Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione went home. The two couples went to their bedrooms to finish celebrating in private.

For the next four weeks, things returned to the old pattern. Work on weekdays, planning the ambush on weekends. The exception was Ginny contacted Madam Pomfrey who flued to Potter Manor to examine Ginny. Ginny was now six weeks along and Madam gave her a supply of prenatal potions and made arrangements to do another exam at ten weeks when it became possible for a detection spell to determine if the baby was a boy or girl.

Harry tried only once to talk Ginny out of going with him to face Voldemort arguing that she had the baby to protect.

She made it clear she was going when she said, "Harry, if you ever want another baby, or to make love again for that matter, drop it or I'll hex your bit off. I know the prophecy says you have to be the one to kill him; but it doesn't say you have to be alone when you do it. I know he killed your parents, and many other people; but that bastard also possessed me and forced me to do horrible things. I will be there with you when you kill him, or else."

Harry saw in her eyes that she was serious and never brought up the subject again. However, her brothers did, and each of them spent time under her 'Bat-Boggy Hex' until they gave up on the idea of stopping her from going.

Planning went fast at first, then much slowed. It wasn't hard to pick out the best strategic positions; but how to detect when Voldemort got there, and then for them to get into position unseen was a problem.

At Hermione's suggestion, they bought a high priced high quality Muggle alarm system figuring Voldemort wouldn't be looking for, or casting spells to detect Muggle devices. The alarm would set off a buzzer at Potter Manor that an elf would be monitoring 24 hours a day.

The alarm would also turn on a camera with a telephoto lens set up to scan the main road near the path leading to the Gaunt house. The camera was far enough away so Voldemort's magic wouldn't affect it, and the monitor screen at Potter Manor was shielded so it was also not affected by the household magic. It took some creative magic on Bill's part do make it work, but the system was finally in place.

For the ambush itself, it was decided that two teams were needed. Everyone agreed that Voldemort wouldn't come at night; even for him, it was too dangerous to deal with the wards in the dark.

They also agreed that it would be impossible to get in position unseen after Voldemort arrived, so the house had to be guarded during all daylight hours. Starting the day they placed the phony news article in the prophet, one team would arrive before dawn each day; the other team would relieve them after eight hours and stay until after dusk. Harry and Ginny would come only when the camera showed Voldemort going into the path to the house.

Finally, they felt ready, and Harry went to Gringotts to tell Goldenrune to send the article to the editor of the Prophet. The next morning the headline and article on the front page read:

_Cursed Object Owned by 'You Know Who' Found and Destroyed at Gringotts_

_ Goldenrune, head curse breaker for Gringotts announced yesterday that a cursed object known to be the property of 'You Know Who' was discovered by Harry Potter and his wife in the Lestrange vault._

_ The Potters, both master curse breakers working for Gringotts, were in the vault to claim the reward offered by the ministry for the apprehension, dead or alive, of any Death Eater. The Potters killed Bellatrix Lestrange__,_( actually Neville killed Bellatrix, but when Harry explained the reason, he agreed to let Harry and Ginny take credit in the article )_ her husband, Rodolphus, and his brother Rabastan in battles months ago._

_ For years, ministry policy was to give first choice of forty percent of the Death Eaters estate to any civilian killing or capturing a Death Eater. The ministry gets fifty percent of the estate, which goes to fund the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; the remaining ten percent goes to Gringotts as payment for handling the sale of lands and non-monetary valuables._

_ In the process of selecting their share, the Potters found a golden cup with Hufflepuff's badger symbol on it. They determined that the cup was cursed and sent for Goldenrune who discovered the curses were placed on the cup by 'You Know Who' himself._

_ Gringotts policy has long been that such cursed items were not permitted on Goblin property and as per the policy, Goldenrune destroyed the cup._

_ The Potters then informed Goldenrune that they had previously found two other such objects and destroyed them. They claimed one was 'You Know Who's' personal diary, and the other was the Diadem of Ravenclaw which they found in a hidden room at Hogwarts._

_ Neither the Potters nor Goldenrune admitted knowing if any other such cursed objects existed; but Goldenrune promised that every vault at Gringotts would be searched and if any other, what he called 'abominations' were found, they would also be destroyed._

The first team consisting of Mad-eye, Remus, Tonks, Hermione, Ron, and Arthur were already in position before the paper hit the streets. Harry and Ginny were waiting at Potter Manor to flame travel to the road near the Gaunt House. Everyone was hoping that Voldemort would see the article and want to check on his Horcruxes right away; nobody wanted to spend days, or maybe weeks off work waiting to spring the trap.

At two in the afternoon, Sirius, Charlie, Bill, Fred, George, and Molly arrive to relieve the first team. At half three, the alarm at Potter Manor went off and the monitor turned on; it showed Voldemort walking toward the side path to the house. Harry sent his Patronus to Mad-eye with the message, "He's there, contact all the first team and come back to the selected site in case you're needed."

Then Harry and Ginny assumed their Phoenix forms and flamed to the road where Voldemort had been two minutes ago. They walked cautiously down the path, constantly checking that Voldemort hadn't set up any traps in case he was being followed.

They found nothing, and soon came around the last corner to see Voldemort's back as he was removing his own wards so he could enter the house and check the Horcrux. The snake Nagini was coiled at his feet.

They agreed earlier that they wouldn't kill Voldemort on sight; the snake had to be killed first. Besides, both Harry and Ginny wanted him to see them and know it was they who eliminated his Horcruxes. They wanted him to be facing them when they killed him.

Ginny's severing curse hit the coiled snake cutting it into five pieces at exactly the same time Harry said, "Looking for something Tom? You're not going to find it."


	18. Chapter 18 - Life and Death

Chapter XVIII – Life and Death

Voldemort spun and fired the killing curse at them; both were ready and simply sidestepped allowing the green light to pass between them.

These first shots were the signal to the team hidden in the nearby forest to act.

They knew if he felt seriously threatened, Voldemort could drop his anti-Apparation and anti-Port-key wards that he set up years ago and he could then escape. To stop him, they arranged at the first casting of any curse, for Bill raised his own anti-Port-key ward and Sirius an anti-Apparation ward to keep Voldemort trapped.

Harry said, "Missed, you'll have to better than that. I hope your snake wasn't a particularly close friend."

Voldemort looked down at his feet, it wasn't until then that he realized that first curse wasn't aimed at him; they had been aiming at Nagini. He also knew there was only one reason for them to kill Nagini first instead of hitting him by surprise while his back was turned.

They knew Nagini had been one of his Horcruxes. The article in the paper already said they had destroyed three other Horcruxes, and Potter just told him he wouldn't find what he was looking for here, the ring.

The question was, had they destroyed the locket; he hadn't had time to check on it yet.

He said, "Potter, you're more clever than I thought; or was it that old fool Dumbledore that planned this?"

Harry said, "He helped some by doing most of the research into your life; but Ginny and I did most of the work finding and destroying your Horcruxes. By the way, not that you're going to live to check on it; but we also destroyed the locket in the cave."

The expression on Voldemort's snake like face was impossible to read; Harry figured fear and anger were the most likely emotions.

A few seconds passed then almost too fast to see, Voldemort sent two killing curses in rapid succession; one at Harry and one at Ginny.

Fortunately, they were expecting it and, sensing his magic rising to cast the curses, they began moving out of the way as soon as they saw the tip of his wand move.

Harry fired back a Reducto and Ginny a cutting curse; both curses bounced off Voldemort's shield.

Voldemort looked at the teens and said, "Harry Potter, do you and your little blood traitor whore think you can stand against me? Or like the coward you are; did you bring her to die in your place like so many others have done?"

Harry wasn't phased; they had been expecting Voldemort to try and cast doubt in their minds about their ability to face him. They knew he would try to upset them with words of hate.

It was Ginny that replied, "Is that's the best you have Tom; calling us names like a silly little child. It won't help you, we came to kill you, and we've made sure you won't be coming back again."

At her words, Voldemort knew she was right; with his Horcruxes destroyed, he could be killed. He glanced around for an escape route.

Harry noticed, and it was their turn to use words to cast doubt in Voldemort's mind. Harry said, "You don't have to look Tom, you must realize by now that the ring isn't there, we destroyed it months ago.

All of them are destroyed" He listed them to make sure Voldemort knew all the Horcruxes were gone and he was mortal again. Harry said, "The ring, the locket, the diadem, the cup, the diary, and the snake; all destroyed; now it's your turn."

Voldemort did look shaken. He fired another killing curse at Harry; Harry rolled away from it and right back up on his feet. Ginny shot another cutting curse forcing Voldemort to put up a shield, preventing him from following up with another curse at Harry.

Harry and Ginny moved away from each other to get Voldemort in a crossfire and force him to defend from two direction at the same time. It also forced him to constantly turn back and forth in order to keep sight of both his opponents; that slowed his firing speed.

All the training Harry and Ginny did was paying off; the killing curse required a lot of energy, and after firing his tenth one without hitting either Harry or Ginny, Voldemort was tiring.

Their use of hard bludgeoning and cutting curses was also forcing him to move in order to dodge curses since he could only shield in one direction at a time.

Fifteen minutes of dueling had Voldemort winded and he realized that the two powerful teens were too strong to face at the same time. He would have to escape and find a way to separate them so he could kill them one at a time.

He realized they hadn't lied about all the Horcruxes being destroyed, and that they could kill him. There was no reason to stay here; he dropped his anti-Apparation ward and twisted to escape. Nothing happened; they must have their own ward up. He dropped his anti-Portkey ward and pulled the chain around his neck; again, nothing happened.

They must have set up their own anti-Portkey ward too; but he didn't understand how. He checked for the magical signature of wards when he first arrived and there were none other than his own. The teens had been too busy dueling to erect new wards.

Then it hit him, there must be others hidden nearby waiting to help the teens. Maybe he could use these people as a distraction or as human shields allowing him to escape.

While keeping up his defense, he began slowly working his way along the front of the house to the woods. He extended his magical senses; there were six people scattered around in the woods. He fired a blasting curse at a tree where he sensed the nearest person. The tree exploded and a teen boy, Fred, behind it was thrown back. He landed hard and slid down the steep slope.

That one was injured, but he slid too far down the hill to be of further use as a hostage. Voldemort sensed another person not far to the left of the one just blasted; again, he fired at the tree hiding that person. This time he was too late; when the tree exploded, the person behind it, George, had already moved away far enough to avoid getting hurt.

Worried about Fred, and angry about almost getting killed, George fired back at Voldemort. Bill, Remus, Sirius, and Molly took that as a signal to come out of hiding and they also began to shoot curses at Voldemort.

Voldemort was distracted for just a fraction of a second by all the spell fire; but that was all Harry and Ginny needed. It allowed Ginny to hit Voldemort in the leg with a cutting curse. He started to fall, but grabbed the side of the house and was able to hold himself up. That was until Harry's blasting curse blew away the section of the house Voldemort was leaning against.

Voldemort was thrown back and landed on his side. The impact caused he shield to collapse and Ginny got him across the chest with another cutting curse. Voldemort attempted to raise another shield, but it was too late, Harry's blasting curse hit in the middle of his chest crushing all his ribs and compressing his lungs and heart.

There was a hiss as the last air was forced from his body. It was over.

Harry called out, "Everyone can come out now; Voldemort is dead. Someone check on Fred."

George yelled back, "I've got him; he loaded down with splinters from that tree exploding and bruised from bouncing off rocks, but he'll be fine."

Molly said, "George, help me get Fred back to Potter Manor so I can start healing him."

Harry said, "Who brought the camera?"

Charlie answered, "I have it."

Harry said, "Get pictures of Voldemort's body and make sure his face is clearly shown. When it's printed in the Daily Prophet, we want everyone to see it plainly and be sure he's really dead. Then incinerate the body, we don't want him buried so none of his followers can find it, take it from the grave, and claim he came back again.

Bill, go up the path and find team one; they should be waiting there by now. Let them know it's over and have everyone else return to Potter Manor while Ginny and I tear down the wards here. Now that the war is over, we don't want anyone getting hurt needlessly."

Once everyone was back at Potter Manor, and Fred was cleaned up and healed, Harry had the elves prepare some food and drinks. He raised his glass and said, "A salute, to everyone that died fighting Voldemort and his followers; may we always remember them. I'm sure they would want us to live our lives not grieving, but moving forward to make a new world where no Dark Lord will ever threaten us or our children again."

Half an hour later, Harry and Ginny Apparated to the Daily Prophet with the pictures and an article they wrote with everyone involved in the ambush. Only Harry and Ginny were name, the others agreed that with some Death Eaters still free, it was safer for everyone involved in killing Voldemort to remain anonymous.

Harry and Ginny didn't want their names mentioned either, they both thought they had been in too many stories already. However, they knew admitting it would cause fewer problems in the long run than the speculation that would run rampant if nobody was named as the person who finally ended the war.

They had a prolonged argument with the senior editor about printing the headline as 'Voldemort Killed' as opposed to 'You Know Who Killed'. Putting the picture of his body was another sore point.

The editor said people would be scared to buy the paper if they saw the name and picture in print. Harry and Ginny insisted that printing the name and picture would prove to people that the staff of the Prophet was sure he was really dead since they wouldn't have used the name if they were afraid he was still alive.

The argument went on so long, Harry finally had to remind the editor that he still owned fifty-one percent of the stock and could fire the editor just like he hired him in the first place.

It was already too late to put out a special edition, so the article was set for tomorrow morning's edition.

Harry and Ginny returned to Potter Manor to rejoin the celebration which ran late into the morning. At first light, Hedwig arrived with the paper. The headline and article appeared just as Harry and Ginny insisted it should.

VOLDEMORT KILLED

The picture filled the remainder of the front page. The article itself was on page two.

_Harry and Ginny Potter arrived at the newsroom of the Daily Prophet late yesterday with the news all of magical Britain has been waiting to hear for the past twenty-five years; Voldemort was ambushed and killed by the Potters and a group of friends._

_ "We've been working on setting up this ambush for month.", Potter said as he and his new wife Ginny Potter (nee Weasley) sat in the newsroom talking with the senior editor for more than an hour. The Potters submitted the following written account of the ambush._

The article followed and at the end of the article, at the bottom of the page was written; _for a comment from Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, see page 4, for a comment from Albus Dumbledore see page 5, for the story of Harry Potter's life see page 6, for the history of war against Voldemort see page 9._

Ginny said, "Turn to page 4 and see what that idiot Fudge said. Harry turned the page and they both read the comment from the minister.

Reporter:_ "Minister Fudge, what can you tell us about the ambush and death of 'He Who Must Not, Be Named'?_

Minister Fudge:_ "The DMLE and its Aurors, under my personal supervision, have been working closely with Harry Potter for almost a year on the top secret planning of the ambush. Late two nights ago, I was informed by the Auror in charge that the trap was ready and 'You Know Who' would be dead within hours._

_ The people can be proud of their ministry and the Auror Service. As I promised, the magical world is now safe and people no longer need fear returning to normal life." _

Harry laughed and said, "I don't believe he thinks he can get away with taking credit. I suppose he knew he'd look like an idiot if he said he didn't know anything about it; but

the man has to be stopped. He can't be allowed to continue screwing up the ministry if we're ever going to make things right."

Ginny said, "Flip to Dumbledore's comments; let's see if he tries to take credit too."

Reporter: _Headmaster, you have been known to be the leader of the fight against 'You Know Who' for many years. Can you tell the readers about your involvement with the ambush and death of 'You Know Who'?_

Dumbledore:_ "As you know, Mr. Potter was under my guidance for years and I'd like to think some of the things I taught him were useful in the planning and actual battle. With that in mind, he and the group involved in planning the attack did of course approach me for advice on their plan. I made several suggestions about the tactics; however, I was not at the scene of the fighting. _

_ Since he finished Hogwarts and became a curse breaker for Gringotts, Mr. Potter has become a formidable leader and has taken over most of the actual planning and fighting. I am grateful, at my age, to be relieved of some of the burden."_

Reporter:_ Did Mr. Potter come here to tell you anything about the battle?"_

Dumbledore:_ No, the fight took place late this afternoon and there hasn't been time for him to come here. I'm sure Mr. Potter's first concern was to check on any injuries to his friends that were there with him; and then to get the news to the Daily Prophet so the public could learn the good news._

_ I expect him to come sometime tomorrow morning to talk with me; there is important information we need to share."_

Dumbledore was hoping Harry would read the article and take his comment on important information seriously. He tried to talk Harry and the others out of ambushing Voldemort; they thought they destroyed all the Horcruxes, but Dumbledore knew better.

Dumbledore never told Harry that he was a Horcrux ; so Dumbledore assumed Harry didn't know that he would have to die to destroy the last Horcrux. Dumbledore was sure Voldemort could still return as long as Harry was alive.

Ginny asked, "What do you think he means; that he has important information?"

Harry said, "I think he doesn't believe it's over. When we went to tell him our plan to ambush Voldemort; remember he was arguing with us not to do it yet."

Ginny said, "I remember, I was getting irritated. I mean we've been trying for years to end the war, and now when the chance was there, he didn't want us to take it."

Harry said, "When he kept insisting on us listening to him, we said we were through talking and just left.

I think he wanted to wait because he knew about the Horcrux in my scar and never said anything to me. I never told him we destroyed it and I figure he thinks it still in me so Voldemort can come back."

Ginny said, "When do you plan on telling him? You are going to tell him, aren't you?"

Harry said, "Yes, I'll tell him soon. But first, Fudge has to be taken care of; Dumbledore can't do any damage, Fudge is endangering everyone by giving people false hope. There are still Death Eaters out there that we didn't get yet. They might want revenge; or they may not believe the news.

Last time, when Voldemort disappeared after trying to kill me, Bellatrix and her people attacked the Longbottoms thinking they knew where Voldemort was. They may try that again. People have to be told to stay alert in case."

Ginny asked, "So what are you thinking of?"

Harry said, "I think we take a walk in Diagon Alley. There will be reporters all over looking for comments from people. We give an interview right there in the open; tell everyone that Fudge is a liar and that even though Voldemort is dead, there are still Death Eaters out there and people still need to be cautious."

Ginny said, "Okay then; but first breakfast. I'm eating for two and don't give interviews on an empty stomach."

It was ten when the Apparated to Diagon Alley. They walked along looking into storefronts for a few minutes before someone yelled, "Look, it's the Potters."

People crowded around them yelling thank-you, and congratulations; some pushed in to touch them. They worked their way up the steps of Gringotts by the time several reporters arrived.

One reporter use the Sonorus charm to yelled over the crowd noise, "Mr. and Mrs. Potter, what can you add to the stories in the paper about the death of 'You Know Who'?"

Harry held up his hands as a signal for everyone to quiet down, after a minute, it was quiet enough for him to be heard.

He said, "First, the story is correct, Voldemort …"

Gasping and noise from the crowd made him stop, when it quieted down again he continued.

"It's only a name; there is no reason to be afraid of a name, especially now that he is dead. All the facts are in the story; you can read them there. What I need to say now is very important.

Listen please, even though Voldemort …"

There were fewer gasps and less noise than last time, but Harry still had to stop and wait for quiet.

Eventually he continued, "Please be quiet and listen for your own safety, even though he is dead, not all of his Death Eaters are. We did kill most of his inner circle and many of his other followers over the past year; but we didn't get all of them, yet."

Another reporter yelled, "What are you saying? The Minister of Magic assured everyone that it is safe to return to our normal lives."

Ginny had been waiting a long time to tell everyone her opinion of Fudge. She said, "The minister is a liar and an idiot. He didn't know anything about our plans to ambush Voldemort."

Now, after saying the name again, she had to wait for quiet.

She went on, "Everything the minister said in the article this morning is a lie. A few of our friends work at the ministry and were helping unofficially; but other than them, nobody else in the ministry was involved.

You older people should remember what happened fourteen years ago, Death Eaters continued attacking people even after Harry stopped him the first time; remember what happened to the Longbottoms."

Harry broke in, "All we're saying is that, Voldemort is really dead and will not return this time. That means it is much safer now, but not totally safe yet. Don't get lazy about security; there could still be Death Eaters looking for revenge or for loot so they can get out of the country or bribe ministry officials and Wizengmort members like so many did after the last war."

A reporter yelled, "Mr. Potter, do you have any proof of what you just said? Proof that officials in the past took bribes to let Death Eaters get off?"

Harry answered, "Yes, we have undisputable proof of seven ministry officials and ten members of the Wizengmort taking bribes or secretly giving support to Voldemort."

There was a roar from the crowd which took several minutes to die down before a reporter could ask, "Why haven't you presented this proof to anyone in the ministry or Wizengmort? And do you plan to do so in the future?"

Harry said, "We've been collecting this information for more than a year and wanted to be sure it was undisputable before presenting it; but keeping that in mind, we have talked about it with three ministry officials that we trust totally.

We considered Voldemort" there was noise, but Harry went on, "as the greater threat and want to eliminate him first. The ministry officials working with us have been vetting Aurors that can be trusted and now have enough reliable Aurors to act. I was told the seventeen corrupt officials will be arrested tomorrow."

A reporter asked, "Can you name any of these people that will be arrested?"

Harry said, "I can name them all; but I won't give them notice now and the chance to escape."

Another reporter asked, "You said ministry officials were vetting Aurors. Are there any corrupt Aurors on this list of officials?"

There were a number of popping sounds as a dozen Aurors Apparated in. Kingsley called out, "We are ministry Aurors, what is happening here?"

Ginny answered, "Auror Shackelbolt, Harry and I came shopping and this crowd gathered. Reporters have been asking us questions."

Harry said, "One of them just asked about you and your team. To answer that question, no, the officials working with us informed us last week that all seventy-eight active Aurors have been vetted and none were found to be involved with any corruption.

In fact, I've had dealing with many of the Aurors over the past year and found every one of them that I met to be brave and doing their best for the people they serve."

A reporter asked, "In the article, you said you had help from friends; but none of them were named. Why? Are you and your wife trying to take full credit for killing 'You Know Who'?

Harry answered, "No, we freely admit we couldn't have done this by ourselves. Our friends asked not to be named for the very reason I just explained to all these people. There are Death Eaters still out there looking for revenge.

The people who helped us are brave and entitled to be given credit for what they did; but some have children, some have elderly parents and grandparents that would be put in danger if their names got out.

Together we realized that someone had to give the public the story. Since the surviving Death Eaters already know about me and my wife, our friends asked us to go to the papers because it wouldn't put us in any more danger than we already are.

If any of the people that helped us want to release their names sometime in the future, we support them and will verify their story.

Now my wife and I would like to finish our shopping and get home to have lunch. We will continue to hunt any Death Eaters still at large and I'm sure the Aurors will also be after them. Someday soon, we hope you will all be completely safe, but today is not that day. Take care."

The crowd moved out of the way as Harry and Ginny walked down the steps of Gringotts and continued along Diagon Alley.

Fudge was furious when he read the paper the next day, how dare they call him a liar and an idiot. He was thinking of what he should do when his office door opened. Two Aurors entered without knocking and one said, "Cornelius Fudge, you are under arrest on charges of corruption. Will you come peacefully or do we have to restrain you."

Other Aurors were doing the same thing at six other ministry offices and the homes and workplaces of ten Wizengmort members. Tomorrows Daily Prophet would be double its normal thickness, full of articles about the arrests.

Seven months later, three days before Christmas, Ginny gave birth to James Sirius Potter, official heir to the Duke of Hutton.

On March 1, 1997, on his seventeenth birthday, now that he and Hermione were both of legal age, Ron proposed to her. They waited until she finished law school for the wedding.


End file.
